THE  JESUITS! 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  FRENCH 

OF 


NEW  YORK: 
D.  &  J.  SADLIER  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS, 
31  Barclay  Street. 

montreal  :  275  notre  dame  street. 

1880. 


COPYRIGHT,  1878,  BY 

D.   &  J.   SADLIER  &  C 


179920 


Edward  O.  Jenkins, 
nter    and  Stereotyper, 
North  Williain  St.^  N.  V. 


CONTENTS. 


Preface,  5 

I. 

The  First  Vow,  n 

II. 

The  First  Fathers,     .      .      .      .      .  .55 

III. 

A  Glance  at  the  Missions,      .      .      .  .87 
IV. 

France,  121 

V. 

POMBAL,  162 

VI. 

A  Brief  Glance  at  Choiseul,  D'Aranda,  and 

Tanucci,       .   214 

VII. 

A  Last  Word,       .    -  259 


PREFACE. 


For  whom  do  I  write  this  book  ? 

I  write  it  for  those  who  have  not  yet  assumed  a  de- 
cided stand  ;  for  young  men,  for  men  of  the  world, 
and  also  for  the  large  class  of  triflers,  swaying,  as  I  was 
for  a  long  time  myself,  in  a  state  of  irresolute  indiffer- 
ence, as  it  were,  between  error,  which  is  not  very 
patent  to  their  sense,  and  truth,  which  they  have  no 
anxiety  to  learn. 

I  know  not  if  my  book  will  be  read,  but  I  hope  so. 

With  some,  the  pernicious  books  which  I  have,  un- 
happily, written,  may  serve  as  a  passport  for  the  pres- 
ent good  work.  In  the  case  of  others,  malevolence 
will  awaken  a  curiosity,  for  the  pens  of  certain  petty 
scribblers  have  already  accused  me  of  having  hazarded 
a  speculation  in  -"eturning  to  God.  And,  indeed,  they 
are  right.  Oh,  Lord,  how  grand  a  heritage  I  have  won 
for  myself,  at  one  stroke,  in  prostrating  myself  before 
Thee! 

But  I  will  not  intone  here  the  Canticle  of  the  work- 
ings of  grace  within  my  heart ;  it  would  take  too  long, 
and  I  have  only  a  few  lines  in  which  to  announce  the 
object  of  my  labor.    I  will  merely  say,  in  relation  to 


6 


Preface. 


this  insinuation  against  my  honor,  that  it  is  a  real 
windfall — it  will  procure  many  readers. 

For,  in  truth,  is  it  not  something  amusing  to  behold 
an  honest  man,  at  a  comparatively  late  hour  of  his  life, 
wallowing  in  the  mire  of  hypocrisy  ? 

I  calculate  on  this,  and  I  hasten  to  take  advantage 
of  it,  striking  the  iron  while  it  is  hot. 

This  book,  at  least  if  the  execution  be  not  below 
the  first  idea,  will  be  but  the  sketch  of  my  great  pict- 
ure, "The  General  History  of  the  Jesuits,"  which  I 
will  achieve,  if  God  grants  me  strength  and  life. 

I  desire  to  fix  in  advance  the  principal  lines,  and  to 
determine  the  perspectives. 

It  will  form  but  the  bare  outline,  or,  to  speak  liter- 
ally, a  brief  synopsis,  since  it  will  occupy  but  one 
volume,  but  affording  such  a  view  of  the  whole  as,  I 
hope,  will  bring  into  prominence  certain  principal  facts 
which  form  the  special  thenie  of  calumniators,  and  which 
have  grown,  as  it  were,  into  the  legend  of  calumny. 

The  point  of  admiration  which  marks  my  title  prom- 
ises to  give  some  importance  to  the  perpetual  insult 
under  which  hate,  for  a  period  of  three  hundred  years, 
has  crushed  and  killed  the  Society  of  Jesus,  which  is 
perpetually  resuscitated ;  it  has  seemed  to  me  oppor- 
tune to  choose,  from  among  the  "crimes"  of  its  eter- 
nally accused  members,  the  most  glaring,  in  order  to 
expose  them  under  a  quasi- dramatic  form,  before  carry- 
ing the  entire  case  to  a  Court  of  Appeal. 


Preface, 


7 


I  remember  to  have  read,  in  the  writings  of  that 
unhappy  writer,  Gioberti,  a  page  written  with  all  the 
Italian  emphasis,  but  full  of  eloquence  and  original 
thought,  on  which  he  compares,  after  the  method  of 
Plutarch,  Ignatius  of  Loyola  and  Julius  Caesar.  Gio- 
berti uniformly  gives  the  advantage  to  the  founder  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus  over  the  founder  of  the  universal 
empire,  in  order  to  better  demonstrate  the  pretended 
decline  of  the  sons  of  Ignatius,  together  with  the  too 
evident  decadence  of  the  heirs  of  Caesar, 

I  say  nothing  of  the  parallel  in  itself.  I  love  neither 
Anagrams,  nor  Gnostics,  nor  Parallels. 

Caesar  was  a  mighty  soldier ;  he  crossed  the  Rubi- 
con. I  know  not  if  he  left  anything,  save  his  military 
reputation,  behind  him  ;  Brutus  assassinated  him,  and 
assassination  is  ever  a  crime.  But  I  know  that  Igna- 
tius founded  something  humble,  which  became  great 
from  its  birth,  and  which  has  kept  pace  with  time  and 
change. 

I  know  that  this  has  won  to  God  forever,  or,  at 
least,  for  a  time,  the  Indies,  China,  and  America, 
millions  of  souls — hundreds  of  millions  of  souls — of 
whom  many  have  been  again  drawn  into  error  by  the 
traitorous  efforts  of  unbelievers  and  their  commercial 
propaganda. 

I  know  that  this  has  existed  for  three  centuries, 
and  in  spite  of  the  incessant  effort  made  to  crush  it, 
the  most  potent  means  of  education. 


8 


Preface. 


I  know  that  from  its  very  birth  this  has  been  cakim- 
niated,  in  the  time  of  Pasquier,  as  in  that  of  Pascal ; 
in  the  time  of  Voltaire,  as  in  the  time  of  Gioberti ;  and 
our  own  time,  and  by  the  same  slanderers  ;  inasmuch 
as  the  Church  of  Christ,  owing  to  its  immortality,  ever 
arouses  the  same  implacable  hate  and  envenomed  fury. 

That  Church  is  an  army  "  led  by  a  Sovereign  Pontiff, 
conducted  by  its  thousand  Bishops,  flanked  by  its 
hundred  Orders  of  Religious,  among  whom  stands,  in 
the  first  rank,"  *  the  Order  of  which  we  speak,  founded 
by  St.  Ignatius,  the  Society  which,  "born  in  an  age  of 
struggles,  is  more  than  all  others  organized  for  the 
combat." 

"  To  struggle  is  the  condition  of  its  being,  its  merit 
before  God,  and  its  meaning  in  history." 

What  struggle  ?  The  struggle  of  Authority  against 
Revolt,  of  Liberty  against  Oppression,  of  Order  against 
Disorder,  of  Good  against  Evil ;  the  true,  the  grand, 
the  only  struggle. 

Furthermore,  I  know  that  the  struggle  is  no  less 
general,  nor  less  desperate,  to-day  than  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  Now,  as  then,  it  is  not  only  the  Church,  but 
society  that  is  menaced  \  and  unquestionably,  had 
epochs  to  be  compared,  we  would  find  our  time  much 
more  diseased,  both  in  a  political,  religious,  and  social 


*  Mgr.  Frippel,  "Religious,  Historical,  and  ^Literary 
Studies." 


4 


Preface,  9 

point  of  view,  than  were  the  times  even  of  Luther  and 
Calvin. 

I  know  that  our  nation,  at  the  present  epoch,  has 
two  pressing  and  vital  needs — the  need  of  knowing 
the  obedience  which  gains  batdes,  and  of  knowing 
again  the  God  whom  they  have  forgotten,  which  is 
victory  itself. 

I  have  before  my  eyes  the  golden  book  wherein 
Father  Emil  Chauveau  enumerates  the  children  of  St. 
Genevieve's  school  who  died  on  the  field  of  battle  in 
our  late  disastrous  struggle. 

Compared  with  the  total  number  of  pupils,  the  num- 
ber of  the  victims  is  truly  and  gloriously  dispropor- 
tion ed.  Every  one  has  remarked  that,  and  I  am 
happy  to  supplement  the  remark. 

Some  will  say,  "  That  is  chance."  No.  There  is 
no  such  thing  as  chance.  "Then,  it  is  luck."  Ah! 
certainly,  and  the  grace  of  God ;  but  be  assured  that 
such  happiness  as  this  comes  not  to  him  who  stands 
idly  waiting.  It  comes  only  to  those  hearts  who  seek 
for  it. 

I  repeat,  that  if  our  country  is  destroyed,  it  will  re- 
sult from  two  causes :  absence  of  religion  and  absence 
of  discipline. 

We  are  a  business  people,  and  self-devotedness  is 
not  a  business ;  we  are  skeptical,  and  self-devotedness 
feeds  on  faith ;  we  are  gay — gay  to  excess  ;  and  self- 
devotedness,  I  assure  you,  will  amuse  none  among  the 


10 


Preface. 


throng  of  maskers  who  exhale  the  double  poison  of  ex- 
travagance and  misery  in  the  siifilbcating  atmosphere 
of  our  halls  of  pleasure. 

I  am  aware  of  all  this,  and,  therefore,  I  would  nar- 
rate the  history  of  the  Jesuits,  who  exist  by  religion, 
and  thorough  discipline,  in  absolute  devotedness,  en- 
deavoring to  merit  thus  the  happiness  and  the  great 
honor  of  losing  my  worldly  reputation  in  the  torrents 
of  hate  which  ever  sweep  against  this  glorious  title, 
the  dread  of  the  enemies  of  God. 


I. 


THE  FIRST  VOW. 

Day  had  not  yet  dawned  on  the  Festival  of  the  As- 
sumption in  the  year  1534,  when  a  lame  man,  who,  in 
spite  of  his  infirmity,  moved  with  a  rapid  and  ener- 
getic step,  might  have  been  seen  passing  along  the 
street  of  Saint  Jacques,  in  the  University  quarter  of 
the  city  of  Paris.  Although,  to  judge  by  his  appear- 
ance, the  stranger  had  reached  middle  life,  he  was  at- 
tired in  the  dress  which  distinguished  the  poor  scholars 
of  the  University  ;  but  in  place  of  the  ink-horn  which 
they  generally  wore  suspended  from  their  side,  he  had 
only  a  rosary. 

A  stout  cord,  passed  under  his  much-worn  hooded 
cloak,  sustained  a  cloth  wallet ;  much  better  armor 
for  a  night-traveler  in  Paris  than  if  he  had  been  pro- 
vided with  a  sword  or  cane ;  for  the  evil-disposed  will 
hardly  attack  mendicants. 

As  the  stranger  reached  the  parapet  of  the  deserted 
bridge,  the  clock  of  Saint  Chapelle  rang  out  the  hour 
of  three. 

He  turned  his  eyes  across  the  winding  Seine,  bor- 
dered by  the  houses  deep  in  shadow,  and  saluted  with 

(II) 


12 


TJie  Jesuits. 


the  sign  of  the  cross  the  massive  pile  of  Notre  Dame. 
As  yet  the  approach  of  day  is  unannounced  by  even 
the  faintest  gUmmer.  It  is  the  hour  when  all  Paris 
sleeps,  whether  it  be  the  sixteenth  century  or  th.e 
nineteenth. 

He  passed  through  the  network  of  narrow  streets 
which  intersected  the  market,  without  encountering  a 
living  soul,  until  he  reached  the  gate  of  Montmatre, 
situated  in  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now  the  Rue  du 
Mail ;  the  new  street  of  St.  Eustache  having  its  first 
houses  built  a  little  later  on  the  outward  winding 
road,  of  which  it  still  preserves  the  tortuous  outline. 
The  barrier   was   closed.     The   sentry  demanded, 

Where  are  you  going?" 

The  lame  man  answered,  "I  am  going  to  the 
chapel  of  Saint  Martyr,>  to  celebrate  the  feast  of  the 
Mary  Immaculate." 

The  chapel  of  Saint  Martyr,  of  which  the  crypt  still 
exists  in  the  Rue  Marie  Antoinette,  was  situated  imme- 
diately under  the  parish  church  of  Montmatre,  and 
occupied  the  exact  site  of  the  altar  of  Mars,  where 
Saint  Denis,  patron  of  Paris,  was  dragged  and  mar- 
tyred with  his  two  companions,  Rusticus  and  Eleu- 
therius,  on  the  9th  of  October,  272,  for  having  refused 
to  offer  sacrifice  in  the  temple  of  Mercury,  god  of 
thieves,  merchants,  etc.,  and  a  whole  category  of  other 
men  for  whom  no  language  affords  an  appropriate 
name. 


The  First  Vow. 


13 


The  guard  answered,  "You  will  have  to  wait  a 
long  time  for  the  first  mass.  Take  the  way  on  your 
right,  the  main  road  is  obstructed  by  the  laborers  who 
work  at  the  swamp  of  Porcherous." 

The  brook  of  Menelmontant,  or  Porcherous,  which 
now  flows  underground,  at  that  time  crossed  the  high- 
way leading  to  Montmartre,  at  the  point  of  our  Rue 
du  Provence.  In  the  summer  season  its  waters  be- 
came stagnant,  causing  pestilence. 

The  lame  man  took  the  Fishmonger's  Lane,  cross- 
ing on  his  way  the  thickets  where  the  eighteenth 
century  was  to  estabHsh  a  whole  town  of  philosophic 
taverns,  under  the  name  of  "  New  France,"  and  reached 
Montmartre  from  the  eastern  side,  through  the  fields 
which  extended  from  the  village  of  the  Chapelle 
St.  Denis,  and  the  hamlet  of  Clegnancourt,  to  the 
place  called  Fontanelle,  and  also  Goutte  d'Eau,  or,  as 
popular  usage  has  made  it,  Goutte  d'Or. 

Dawn  had  not  yet  appeared ;  but  the  moon,  sink- 
ing toward  the  horizon,  shed  its  fading  gleams  upon 
the  surrounding  country,  revealing  where  the  spire  of 
the  abbey  built  by  Suger  arose  in  the  center  of  the 
plain,  against  the  dark  hills  of  Montmorency,  facing 
the  four  round  towers  of  the  Noble  House  of  Saint 
Ouen,  from  whose  belfry  now  all  the  bells  were  ring- 
ing simultaneously,  because  its  masters,  the  Knights 
of  the  Star,  according  to  the  obligation  laid  upon 
them  by  their  founder,  King  John,  in  135 1,  were. 


14 


The  Jc suits. 


compelled  to  hold  their  yearly  full  Chapter  in  mid- 
August,  from  noon  till  the  evening  of  the  following  day. 

Our  crippled  traveler,  although  he  now  carried  a 
wallet,  had  formerly  been  a  knight  himself ;  but  he  had 
long  since  abandoned  the  world  and  its  glories,  and  it 
was  not  for  him  that  the  bells  of  the  Noble  House  were, 
ringing.  He  was  destined  to  found  an  eminent  eccle- 
siastical Order,  more  enduring  than  that  of  King 
John's. 

It  was  by  the  path  cut  through  Fontanelle  that  he 
gained  the  summit  of  Montmartre. 

The  night  still  lingered.  Having  arrived  at  the 
culminating  point  occupied  by  the  church-yard,  be- 
hind the  apsis  of  the  parish  church,  on  the  very  spot 
where  now  rest  the  foundations  of  the  basilica  vowed 
by  France  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  he  paused  fatigued, 
and  looked  about  him  intently,  murmuring,  "  I  am  first 
at  the  rendezvous." 

He  took  his  repose  neither  sitting  nor  lying  down, 
but  prostrate^  reciting  his  rosary.  Silence  reigned  on 
this  exposed  elevation,  over  which  the  soft  summer- 
night  wind  gently  passed.  One  heard  there  no  sounds 
of  life. 

A  few  scattered  houses  to  the  right  and  left  of  the 
church,  which  formed  the  suburbs  of  the  village  of 
Montmatre,  still  lay  wrapped  in  slumber. 

Nothing  was  visible  on  the  ridge  of  the  slope  be- 
tw^een  the  prostrate  student  and  the  wall  of  the  ceme- 


The  First  Vow, 


15 


tery  only  some  dark  and  immovable  objects;  appar- 
ently the  stones  which  had  lain  scattered  in  these 
fields  since  the  time  of  the  Druids. 

The  church -clock  struck  four,  and  presently  the 
abbey  chimes  called  to  the  matin  office. 

Then  one  of  the  seeming  stones  moved  and  stood 
up  ;  then  two,  then  all.  They  were  six,  and  the  lame 
student,  rising  in  his  turn,  exclaimed :  "  God  be 
praised  ;  I  thought  myself  the  first,  and  I  was  the  last." 

The  rising  sun  revealed  six  young  men  gathered 
about  an  older  student,  who  bore  the  air  of  a  master  in 
the  midst  of  his  disciples. 

The  term  "  student,"  by  which  we  have  introduced 
him,  will  no  longer  serve  to  distinguish  him  ;  for  all 
the  others,  save  one,  who  wore  the  garb  of  a  priest,  were 
attired  like  him,  in  the  dress  peculiar  to  the  poor  stu- 
dents who  followed  the  course  of  the  University  of 
Paris. 

The  priest  only  had  the  appearance  of  a  French- 
man ;  all  the  others,  including  the  cripple,  bore  on 
their  dark-complexioned  countenances  the  impress  of 
the  Spanish  race,  which  then  shared  with  us  the  em- 
pire of  the  world. 

Francis  the  First  was  king  ;  Charles  the  Fifth,  em 
peror  ;  Columbus  had  just  discovered  an  unknown 
half  of  the  earth. 

Alexander  Farnese,  under  the  name  of  Paul  III., 
had  succeeded  Leo  X.,  on  the  throne  of  St.  Peter. 


1 6  The  Jesuits, 

In  the  year  1534  Luther  had  attained  his  fiftieth 
year ;  Calvin  his  thirty-third.  The  lame  student,  whose 
wallet,  as  the  daylight  permitted  to  be  seen  between  the 
fibers  of  the  coarse  cloth  of  which  it  was  composed, 
Avas  filled  with  crusts  of  begged  bread,  was  forty-seven 
years  of  age. 

But  why,  however,  announce  the  age  of  this  cripple, 
with  that  of  Luther  and  Calvin  ? 

Because  this  poor,  obscure  man  was  more  powerful  * 
and  prolific  of  good,  though  alone,  than  they,  though 
united,  were  terrible  and  prolific  of  evil. 

His  name  was  Ignatius  of  Loyola.  One  could  see 
that  he  had  been  a  soldier.  An  expression  of  indom- 
itable courage  mingled  with  the  humility  of  his  con- 
version. 

But  he  was  a  thinker ;  and  his  features  bore  the  clear 
and  commanding  expression  peculiar  to  men  who  are 
predestined  to  accomplish  great  objects. 

Something  of  the  eagle  he  bore  in  his  profile,  of 
which  the  proud  lines  hardly  reflected  to  the  full  ex- 
tent the  sweetness  which,  by  God's  help,  had  over- 
flowed a  heart  agitated  by  the  fever  of  war,  until  the 
light  breaking  in,  had  confounded  it.  Although  his 
face  bore  the  impress  of  a  noble  and  generous  charac- 
ter, it  was  in  the  eyes,  especially,  that  the  exceeding 
beauty  of  his  soul  was  expressed ;  his  look  at  once 
awed  and  attracted,  because  he  possessed  at  once 
power  and  tenderness. 


Tlie  First  Vow, 


17 


Thirteen  years  had  passed  since  the  bloody  night 
after  the  siege  of  Pampeluna,  when  he  was  found  con- 
quered, though  victorious,  after  having  struggled  for 
twelve  hours  with  lion-like  courage. 

These  Loyolas,  lords  of  Ognez,  were  of  Cantabrian 
origin,  and  as  true  in  combat  as  the  steel  of  their 
sword.  Ignatius,  the  heroic  captain,  formerly  a  page 
of  King  Ferdinand,  young,  ambitious,  proud,  and  be- 
loved, revolted  against  the  will  of  God  which  nailed 
him  to  a  sick-bed,  almost  within  sound  of  the  battle. 

It  is  said  that  he  asked  those  who  served  him  to  get 
him  some  romances  which  might  serve  to  divert  his 
mind,  and  they  brought  him  the  histories  of  the  mar- 
tyrs, and  among  others,  the  acts  of  the  first,  of  the 
greatest  of  the  martyrs,  "The  Passion  of  our  Lord." 

There  is  a  tradition  in  Guipuzcoa  that  Ignatius  was 
then  deeply  attached  to  a  beautiful  and  wealthy  young 
girl,  who  had  been  promised  to  him  in  marriage. 

When  he  had  finished  reading  the  Passion  of  our 
Lord  as  related  by  St.  John,  he  took  her  beloved  im- 
age from  his  heart,  and  pressing  to  his  lips  a  medal 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  he  vowed  his  soul  to  the  free 
service  of  the  faith,  and  his  body  to  the  chastity  of  our 
divine  Lord,  saying :  "  Behold  me  the  knight  of  the 
true  love,  and  the  soldier  of  the  only  glory." 

The  lives  of  the  saints  will  not  serve  as  exact 
models  for  those  in  the  world.  Each  state  has  its 
2 


i8 


TJie  Jesuits. 


peculiar  degree  of  sanctity.  Tlie  saints  who  renounce 
all  are  the  laborers  of  God  who  owe  to  Him  their  en- 
tire day  of  work. 

Those  who  remain  in  the  world  are  bound  to  fulfill 
their  duty  toward  God,  without  neglecting  that  which 
they  owe  to  the  world. 

Ignatius,  not  wishing  to  share  his  work,  quitted  the 
world,  and  constituted  himself  one  of  God's  workmen, 
long  before  binding  himself-  thereto  by  a  public  or 
solemn  profession. 

He  began  the  work  of  voluntary  detachment  from 
all  earthly  things,  by  abandoning  to  the  poor  all  his 
goods,  and  by  living  iii  solitude  to  break  his  most 
tender  attachments. 

It  was  his  "  call  to  arms  ;  "  we  must  not  forget  tliat 
it  was  a  soldier  who  was  entering  upon  the  apostolate. 

Having  bidden  a  final  farewell  to  the  glory  of  war, 
which  had  been  his  profession  and  his  passion,  to  the 
love  of  his  betrothed,  to  the  house  of  his  father,  to  his 
beloved  family  and  dear  friends,  he  departed  with 
tearful  eyes,  but  a  strong  heart.  On  the  road  he 
parted  not  with  half  of  his  cloak,  like  the  apostle  of 
charity,  St.  Martin,  but  bestowed  it  entire,  together 
with  all  his  clothes  and  his  horse. 

But  he  reserved  the  last  sacrifice  of  parting  with  his 
sword,  until  he  reached  the  goal  of  his  pilgrimage,  the 
monastery  of  Mount  Serrat,  situate  near  Manresa  in 
Catalonia,  where  he  suspended  it  from  a  pillar. 


The  First  Vow, 


19 


In  this  monastery  he  made  a  general  confession 
which  occupied  three  days ;  after  which,  clothed 
in  sackcloth,  he  returned  to  the  famous  grotto  where 
were  granted  him  his  first  ecstatic  revelations,  in  the 
intervals  of  journeys  which  he  made  on  foot  to  some 
distance,  despite  his  hardly-cured  wounds,  to  beg  alms 
for  the  poor. 

Here  he  wrote  his  great  work,  "  Manresa ;  or,  Spir- 
itual Exercises,"  and  the  plan  of  his  Constitutions, 
which  may  be  called  the  eniire  work  of  his  eventful 
life. 

In  this  solitude  he  saw  something  more  :  the  neces- 
sity of  being  a  man  of  science,  in  order  to  teach  truth 
and  combat  falsehood. 

But  before  taking  his  place,  he,  the  renowned  cap- 
tain of  yesterday,  on  the  benches  of  a  school,  he  desired 
to  quench  the  thirst  which  devoured  him  to  press  his 
lips  on  the  tomb  of  our  Saviour. 

Afoot,  penniless,  he  set  out ;  obtained,  by  the  help 
of  God,  passage  on  a  ship  bound  from  Barcelona  to 
Rome,  where,  having  kissed  the  feet  of  the  Holy 
Father  Adrian  VI.,  he  once  more  took  up  his  staff, 
traveled  through  Italy,  begging  his  bread,  and  em- 
barked at  Venice  in  a  galley  which  landed  him  in  the 
Isle  of  Cyprus. 

From  thence  he  went  to  Jaffa,  and  reached  the  Holy 
City,  after  a  journey  that  occu])ied  a  year. 

But  now,  if  it  were  not  for  a  fortunate  obstacle  in- 


20 


The  Jesuits. 


terposed  by  Providence,  his  future  mission  would 
never  have  been  accomplished ;  for  the  land  pressed 
by  the  sacred  feet  of  our  Lord,  held  for  him  so  pow- 
erful an  attraction,  that  he  resolved  there  to  live  and 
die  ;  but  the  delegate  of  the  Holy  See,  who  had  au- 
thority over  the  pilgrims,  ordered  him  to  return  to  Eu- 
rope, and  Ignatius,  having  watered  for  the  last  time, 
with  his  tears,  the  traces  of  the  sacred  footprints  of 
our  Redeemer,  on  Djebet  Jor,  made  at  the  blessed 
hour  of  His  Ascension,  obeyed. 

Seven  months  later,  he  was  entered  as  a  scholar  in 
the  lowest  class  of  the  University  of  Barcelona. 

Persecuted  for  the  miracle  of  his  piety,  which  was 
judged  to  be  sorcery,  and  several  times  imprisoned  ; 
pursued  from  Barcelona  to  Salamanca  by  persecution  ; 
and  opposing  nothing  to  injustice  but  silence  and 
resignation,  he  at  length  quitted  Spain,  and  took  the 
road  to  Paris,  whose  University  was  the  first  iii  the 
world. 

At  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  France,  during  the  first 
month  of  the  year  1528,  Ignatius,  born  in  1491,  was 
consequently  36  years  old.  He  had  the  courage  to 
re-commence  the  study  of  his  humanities  in  the  College 
of  Montague,  at  Saint  Barbara ;  and  notwithstand- 
ing the  obstacles  which  his  practical  piety,  the  depth 
of  his  meditations,  and  the  apostleship  which  he  had 
already  begun  to  exercise,  he  made  some  progress ; 
but  persecution  had  pursued  him  across  the  Pyrenees. 


The  First  Vow, 


21 


It  happened  that  a  Professor  of  Saint  Barbara,  John 
Pena,  accused  him,  not  of  being  a  sorcerer,  as  they 
had  done  in  Spain,  but  of  drawing  off  the  attention  of 
the  students  from  their  studies  by  means  of  the  mys- 
tical reveries  in  which  he  indulged,  for  which  he  was 
sentenced  to  receive  public  chastisement  in  the  grand 
hall  of  the  College. 

Ignatius  submitted  with  such  humility  to  the  sen- 
tence that  the  Rector  was  filled  with  astonishment, 
and  resolved  to  interrogate  the  culprit  himself. 

Ignatius  replied  to  the  interrogatory  the  same  as  he 
had  accepted  the  sentence.  Meanwhile  the  rumor 
was  speedily  circulated  that  there  was  to  be  an  example 
of  public  chastisement. 

Owing  to  the  perfection  of  his  life,  Ignatius  was  not 
popular  among  the  majority  of  the  students ;  so  this 
was  hailed  as  welcome  news. 

A  numerous  throng  was  assembled  in  the  grand  hall, 
where  the  punishment  was  to  be  administered,  testi- 
fying all  the  impatience  of  spectators  at  a  theatre  for 
the  rising  of  the  curtain,  when  at  length  the  Rector 
appeared. 

He  held,  or  rather  drew,  Ignatius  after  him  by  the 
hand. 

Thus  he  passed  along  the  cruel  and  curious  ranks, 
the  accused  following  him,  pale  as  death,  with  down- 
cast eyes. 

In  the  center  of  the  hall  the  Rector  paused,  and  to 


22 


The  Jesuits, 


the  intense  astonishment  of  all  present,  his  eyes  were 
full  of  tears. 

For  a  moment  he  remained  silent,  apparently  over- 
come by  his  emotion  ;  then  suddenly  pressing  Ignatius 
to  his  heart  (others  say  he  fell  on  his  knees),  he  ex- 
claimed :  "  Not  only  has  he  been  falsely  accused 
without  complaining,  but  he  has  joyfully  submitted,  in 
recompense  for  the  good  he  has  been  able  to  accom- 
plish, to  the  opprobrium  of  an  unjust  punishment  !  I 
have  seen  the  conscience  of  a  saint,  and  I  show  it  to 
you." 

Until  then  the  least  malevolent  among  the  com- 
panions of  Ignatius  had  turned  into  ridicule  all  the 
efforts  he  made  to  draw  souls  to  God.  The  role  of 
director  of  consciences  assumed  by  this  stranger,  who 
lived  ©n  the  charity  of  passers-by,  and  who  had  not 
even  acquired  a  single  degree  in  literature,  letters,  or 
the  sciences,  seemed  nothing  short  of  presumption  ; 
but  after  the  incident  which  we  have  just  related,  he 
appeared  in  a  new  light,  and  many  souls  were  attracted 
toward  him. 

Of  these  Ignatius  repulsed  none,  but  those  whom 
he  confided  in  were  few. 

The  reader  may  be  astonished  to  learn  that  he  was 
now  engaged  in  an  important  selection  in  the  midst 
of  his  contemplative  life  ;  he  was  choosing  those  who 
one  day  were  to  be  Jesuits. 

The  first  chosen  was  an  ingenuous  young  man,  of 


The  First  Vow. 


23 


simple  and  unaffected  manner,  by  name  Peter  Lef^vre. 
He  had  also  journeyed  as  a  pilgrim  from  the  depths 
of  Savoy  in  order  to  enter  Holy  Orders,  and  was 
already  celebrated  for  his  learning.  Ignatius  was  at 
once  his  master  and  his  disciple;  his  master  in  the 
faith — his  disciple  in  all  which  concerned  study ;  and 
thanks  to  the  assistance  of  this  friendly  guide,  the 
difficulties  of  Ignatius'  scholastic  path  were  speedily 
overcome.  He  became  Master  of  Arts,  and  was 
shortly  admitted  into  the  class  of  Theology. 

Lefevre  was  strongly  attached  to  a  student  of  his  own 
age,  Francis  Xavier,  belonging  to  an  impoverished, 
but  noble  family  of  Navarre,  who  possessed  an  ardent 
heart,  brilliant  eloquence,  and  sparkling  wit,  but  was 
entirely  devoted  to  earthly  ambition. 

Ignatius  resolved  to  convert  him ;  and  the  argu- 
ments which  are  put  into  his  mouth  by  historians 
remind  one  of  the  evangelists:  "Xavier,  what  will  it 
serve  you  to  gain  the  universe  and  lose  your  soul  ? 
If  there  were  no  other  ife  than  the  present,  no  other 
*  glory  than  the  glory  of  this  world,  you  would  be  -right 
to  dream  only  of  how  to  become  great  among  men  ; 
but  since  there  is  an  eternity,  why  do  you  limit  your 
desires  to  this  world  ?  why  do  you  prefer  that  which 
passes  to  that  which  never  ends  ?  " 

Ignatius  had  hard  work  to  gain  this  soul,  but  it  was 
a  grand  conquest. 

Neither  Lefevre  nor  Xavier  yet  knew  that  they  were 


24 


The  Jesuits, 


destined  to  be  enrolled  as  captains  in  that  army  which, 
as  yet,  lacked  soldiers.  Until  this  moment,  Ignatius 
had  breathed  his  thought  to  none  save  God. 

The  third  and  fourth  recruit  arrived  together  from 
Spain,  with  the  intention  of  attaching  themselves  to 
the  Society  of  Ignatius,  who,  without  his  ow^n  seeking, 
had  already  acquired  renown. 

These,  James  Laynez  and  Antonio  Salmeron,  the 
latter  of  whom  was  still  very  young,  were  received  with 
open  arms  ;  the  first  glance  of  the  master  had  observed 
on  their  youthful  faces  the  impress  of  genius. 

Then  came  Alphonso,  of  the  town  of  Bobadilla,  and 
the  Portuguese,  Rodriquez  Azevedo. 

All  these  chosen  six  were  poor,  living  by  charity, 
with  the  exception  of  Xavier,  who  lectured  on  Phi- 
losophy. 

But  Ignatius  already  assumed  the  place  of  a  father  to 
this  family,  tenderly  watching  over  their  welfare. 

And  though  he  revealed  nothing  of  his  projects, 
unconsciously  they  grew  to  expect  great  things  of 
him. 

Lef  evre  was  ordained  priest.  Soon  after  this  event, 
Ignatius  sought  retirement  and  solitude  for  contempla^ 
tion. 

But  even  without  the  aid  of  words,  a  similar  cur« 
rent  of  thought  appeared  to  pass  between  his  friends' 
hearts  and  his,  although  they  presumed  not  to  question 
him. 


The  First  Vow, 


25 


One  (lay,  however,  Xavier  asked  him  :  "  Have  you 
nothing  to  say  to  iis?" 

And  Ignatius  embraced  him  with  tearful  eyes,  but 
answered  nothing. 

At  length,  on  the  thirteenth  of  August,  two  days 
before  the  Assumption,  he  ordered  all  to  fast  and  go 
to  confession  upon  the  day  following;  then  bidding 
Lefevre  to  repair  beforehand  to  the  Abbey,  and  make 
preparations  for  a  mass  to  be  said  in  the  crypt  of  Saint 
Martyr  on  the  morning  of  the  fifteenth  of  August,  he 
added  :  "  Come,  all  of  you,  to  the  summit  of  Mont- 
martre  before  daybreak,  to  the  field  behind  the  church, 
near  the  cemetery.  I  will  be  there,  and  I  will  speak 
to  you." 

Those  who  were  gathered  about  Ignatius  of  Loyola 
that  morning  at  the  meeting-place  were  Lefevre,  Fran- 
cis Xavier,  James  Laynez,  Antonio  Salmeron,  Nicholas 
Alonzo  of  Bobadilla,  and  Simon  Rodriquez  d'Azeve- 
do,  the  first  of  whom  was  a  priest ;  the  others  only 
students.  All  were  to  have  a  share,  unequal  it  is  true, 
in  the  glory  of  their  master. 

The  oldest,  Lefevre,  was  twenty-four  years  of  age ; 
the  youngest,  Salmeron,  had  hardly  attained  his  eight- 
eenth year. 

Ignatius  kept  his  promise  to  its  full  extent;  he  spoke 
in  the  midst  of  those  chosen  souls,  who  listened  eagerly; 
The  grand  memories  of  the  Apostle  of  the  Gauls 


26 


The  Jesuits, 


still  lingered  about  this  spot,  where  the  living  God  had 
replaced  the  idols  of  paganism,  hurled  to  the  earth. 
For,  in  the  distance,  arose  the  royal  spire  of  St.  Denis, 
silvered  by  the  first  rays  of  the  rising  sun,  which  hard  by 
caressed  the  humble  church  of  Montmatre,  once  the 
temple  of  Mercury,  but  now  purified  and  baptized  by 
the  blood  of  martyrs. 

As  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  it  met  nothing  to  dis- 
turb the  solitude. 

Paris,  awaking  from  slumber,  lay  wrapped  in  mist, 
and  the  only  sound  which  broke  the  stillness  was  that 
of  the  church  bells  announcing  the  glory  of  Mary, 
alike  to  those  who  still  loved,  and  whose  hearts  had 
learned  to  forget  her. 

Paris  was  far  removed  from  Montmatre  in  those 
days,  and  though  already  deemed  a  grand  city,  merely 
consisted  of  a  confused  mass  of  buildings,  in  the  center 
of  the  plain,  rising  against  the  dark  towers  of  Notre 
Dame. 

It  terminated  on  the  east  in  the  gardens  of  Skint 
Paul,  widely  separated  from  the  Bastile,  which  resem- 
bled, with  its  wheel-shaped  towers,  a  mighty  chariot 
bearing  down  upon  the  turret  of  Vincennes ;  on  the 
west,  it  ended  at  the  Louvre ;  toward  the  south,  in  the 
inclosure  of  Saint  Germain  des  Pres  ;  on  the  north 
side,  within  some  hundred  steps  of  St.  Eustache,  and 
nothing  indicated  that  it  would  presently  stretch  so  far 
beyond  its  existing  limits. 


The  First  Vow. 


27 


All  this  was  faintly  outlined  through  the  fog  of  Paris 
which  no  wind  stirred,  and  through  which  the  gilded 
crosses  of  the  churches  caught  a  mysterious  gleam  of 
light. 

All  seemed  calm  ;  but  an  indefinable  menace 
seemed  to  lurk  beneath  the  repose. 

Ignatius  spoke ;  'tis  duty  compels  him  so  to  do ; 
what  will  he  say  ?  Those  who  will  listen  may  still 
hear  his  words  even  at  this  lapse  of  time  ;  he  repeated 
them  in  his  work,  and  his  writings  have  immortalized 
them. 

When  he  had  exchanged  the  Christian  salutation 
with  his  companions,  he  paused  and  collected  his 
thoughts  in  the  Name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost. 

And  through  the  open  windows  of  the  church,  came, 
clear  and  sweet,  the  chant  of  the  Religious,  sounding 
the  praises  of  the  Lord. 


"  You  are  impatient,  children,  because  you  have  had 
to  wait  some  days  for  what  I  have  awaited  in  patience 
fourteen  years. 

"Yes,  fourteen  years  I  have  watched  alternately 
heaven  and  earth,  seeking  to  learn  what  Heaven  in- 
tends for  this  age,  and  what  the  age  meditates  against 
Heaven. 

"  The  present  time  will  occupy  a  prominent  page  in 


28 


The  Jesuits. 


history.  Peace  to  those  whose  names  shall  not  re-echo 
amid  these  stormy  times  ;  all  of  ours  shall  be  recorded 
therein,  those  of  some  in  blood. 

"  Selim  and  Soliman  have  alternately  menaced  Eu- 
rope ;  the  Crescent  rules  Rhodes,  where  no  longer  floats 
the  standard  of  Jerusalem. 

"  We  have  seen  Christians  offer  up  prayers  for  the 
Turk  ;  we  have  seen  kings  conspiring  for  the  sub- 
version of  their  thrones,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  aston- 
ishment ejfcited  by  these  events,  a  voice  is  heard 
from  Rome,  denouncing  the  corruption  of  the  cloister, 
and  the  falsehood  practiced  beneath  the  shadow  of  the 
altar  !  What  can  henceforth  be  to  us  a  cause  of  sur- 
prise ?  Where  will  the  chastisement  end  ?  What  is 
the  will  of  God  ?  Who  can  comprehend  the  language 
of  His  righteous  indignation  ? 

"  Behold  the  apostate  Luther,  in  whom  is  concen- 
trated the  brutishness  of  genius,  the  slavery  of  a  mind 
enchained  by  the  senses,  the  appetite  of  an  ogre,  the 
strength  of  a  bull,  and  the  rapacity  of  a  wolf ;  a  pro- 
found shame,  but  a  striking  lesson  ;  crying  to  the  world 
that  heresy  is  not  the  rebellion  of  reason,  but  the  eleva- 
tion of  flesh. 

"At  his  voice  the  greedy  German  arises  and  inaugu- 
rates a  course  of  sacrilege,  robbery,  and  murder.  There 
the  princes  head  the  tumults  among  the  people,  who 
will  trample  underfoot  the  crowns  of  their  rulers. 

*'In  ravaging  the  cathedrals  they  show  them  how 


The  First  Vow. 


29 


to  demolish  the  palaces.  They  will  profit  by  the 
lesson. 

"  Hell  openly  triumphs  !  It  is  the  orgie  of  the  beast 
in  human  shape,  who  accuses  the  Blessed  Virgin  of 
impurity,  and  the  true  God  of  falsehood;  they  reject 
the  Mass,  that  is  to  say,  Jesus  Christ ;  these  men  who 
call  themselves  Christians,  and  more  than  Christians, 
since  they  pretend  to  reform  Christianity,  by  over- 
throwing the  Altar  of  the  insulted  Christ,  and  His  dis- 
honored Mother. 

*'  Behold  the  reformers,  one  armed  against  the  other, 
all  mutually  accusing  one  another  of  perfidy,  the  only 
point  on  which  they  are  not  mistaken  ;  behold  the 
men  engaged  in  this  tournament  of  impiety ;  Carl- 
stadt,  who  kills  the  souls  of  infants  by  depriving  them 
of  baptism  ;  Munzer,  the  furious  leveler,  who  finds 
in  the  falsified  Gospel  the  justification  of  theft  ;  the 
confusion  of  mine  and  thine,  and  the  ancient  folly  of 
the  sharing  of  earthly  goods ;  John  of  Leyden,  the 
caricature  of  a  prophet,  who  preaches  the  common- 
alty of  all,  even  of  women  ;  he,  the  masterpiece  of 
Satan,  who,  in  him,  burlesques  royalty,  the  priesthood, 
and  even  martyrdom  ;  behold  ^winglius,  the  austere 
maniac,  of  whom  Calvin  appropriates  to  himself  the 
heritage  ;  .  .  .  .  but  how,  remember,  or  what,  imports 
the  names  ?  All  is  hypocrisy,  blasphemy,  pillage,  rav- 
age, and  carnage  ;  time  put  in  the  place  of  eternity  ; 
a  harvest  of  high-sounding  words  justifying  the  base- 


30 


The  Jesuits, 


ness  of  men  and  the  ignominy  of  things  ;  such  is  the 
Reformation,  red  with  wine  and  blood,  a  leprosy  under 
the  guise  of  a  remedy. 

"  The  Turks  deceive  no  one  ;  for  the  Turks  are  bar- 
barians, deluded  by  a  false  prophet ;  they  have  denied 
nothing ;  but  Luther,  Carlstadt,  Munzer,  Zwinglius^ 
and  John  of  Ley  den,  have  known  Jesus,  and  betrayed 
Him  ;  they  have  sacrificed  Him  to  their  interest,  to 
their  immoderate  thirst  of  power,  of  renown,  of  the 
enjoyments  of  this  world — and  of  their  own  free  will ; 
they  have  constituted  themselves  the  apostles  of  pride, 
the  ministers  of  the  Enemy  of  Mankind. 

"And  the  enemy  plays  with  these  his  tools,  and 
amuses  himself  by  introducing  into  the  midst  of  horror 
some  sinister  nonsense  which  recalls  the  days  when  the 
Lower  Empire  mocked  its  own  awful  situation. 

"  Christiern  makes  of  his  barber  a  prelate ;  Henry 
VIH.,  the  knight  of  the  axe,  between  the  assassinations 
of  two  queens,  finds  time  to  write  pamphlets,  wherein 
he  calls  Rome  a  harlot,  because  Rome  refuses  to 
countenance  his  awful  licentiousness. 

"  For  they  are  all  the  same ;  each  of  these  Reformers 
accuses  the  Church  of  the  very  crime  which  he  has 
notably  committed ;  evil  drags  the  good  to  judgment, 
with  clamors  of  indignation  ;  the  assassin  shrieks  mur- 
der ;  the  robber,  theft.  Judas  denounces  treason,  and 
Henry  VIH.  is  scandahzed.    The  latter  dips  the  pen 


The  First  Vow, 


31 


of  the  former  advocate  of  the  Faith,  into  the  mingled 
blood  of  women  and  priests,  and  finds  relief  in  calum- 
ny, from  the  fatigues  of  the  executioner. 

"  Does  the  evil  end  here  ?  We  are  in  France,  and 
Paris  is  at  our  feet.  Will  this  oldest  daughter  of  the 
Church  shield  her  mother  from  the  menaces  which  as- 
sail her  on  all  sides  ?  It  may  be.  I  hope  it  !  But 
you  are  like  myself,  the  children  of  the  University  of 
Paris,  the  pride  of  sci-ence  and  the  honor  of  letters  ; 
you  have  heard,  like  me,  those  vague  sounds  at  first  so 
faint — something  keen,  but  furtive  as  the  hissing  of  the 
serpent  in  the  grass — and  which  goes  on  from  year  to 
year  augmenting,  until  it  resembles  the  menacing  voice 
of  an  approaching  tempest. 

"Here  we  have  not  yet  attained  the  shameful  level  of 
the  settaries  beyond  the  Rhine ;  Paris  is  no  haunt  of 
Free-Lancers,  and  the  burlesque  exhibition  of  Wart- 
bourg,  where  the  intoxicated  Luther  converses  with  the 
devil,  as,  of  old,  Moses  did  with  God,  satisfies  only  the 
Germans.  We  are  not  yet  stricken  with  the  awful 
convulsions  which  afflict  the  tyrants  of  the  North, 
whose  pagan  soil  so  long  resisted  the  rock  of  the 
Cross,  and  where  it  is  ever  tottering  ;  still  less  are  we 
acquainted  with  the  uncompromising  arithmetic  of  the 
London  traders,  by  which  they  calculate  how  far  their 
interests  might  be  served  by  the  fact  of  possessing  in 
their  midst  a  Pope  entirely  their  own,  sharing  with 
them  the  patrimony  of  the  Church ;  at  once  pfO- 


32 


The  Jesuits, 


fessor,  procreator,  and  Sovereign  Pontiff,  wielding  the 
scepter,  the  censer,  and  the  axe,  in  a  hand  as  able  at 
the  desk  of  the  pedant,  as  at  the  block  of  the  execu- 
tioner ;  English  enough  to  institute  an  Enghsh  faith  as 
such  baptized  under  the  name  of  Anghcanisin,  an  En- 
glish morahty,  an  English  modesty,  and  an  English 
truth,  as  of  old  the  merchants  proper  of  Carthage  invent- 
ed a  Punic  faith.  These  things  satisfy  only  the  English. 

"  In  order  to  attract  France,  other  sophistries  must  be 
brought  into  requisition,  and  above  all,  more  caution 
used  in  the  manner  of  presenting  them. 

"  She  will  insist  upon  the  appearance  of  examination, 
the  seeming  of  logic,  and  some  plaything  with  which 
she  can  amuse  herself  by  giving  it  the  name  of  liberty. 

"  Being  the  most  powerful  and  most  impetuous  of 
the  nations,  France  will,  perhaps,  lose  herself  most 
completely  amid  the  mazes  of  political  wanderings, 
because  the  strength  of  fevers  is  ever  proportionate  to 
the  generosity  of  the  temperament,  but  as  yet  she  has 
not  entered  upon  this  perilous  way  ;  so  far  her  spiritual 
good  sense  has  revolted  at  the  grossness  of  the  allure- 
ments which  heresy  holds  out  to  her. 

"  But  the  character,  the  beloved  and  commanding 
character  of  the  French,  has  its  peculiar  temptations. 

There  is  woman,  there  is  vice,  there  is  the  intoxica- 
tion of  the  art  of  writing  and  of  speaking. 

...  It  is  woman  who  will  open  to  the  plague 
the  doors  of  France. 


The  First  Vow. 


33 


"  The  sister  of  the  king,  '  La  Marguerite  des  Mar- 
gueritis/  shields  and  fosters  that  viper  of  vipers,  the 
workman  truly  strong  in  evil,  who  gives  to  heresy  its 
philosophic  mask,  and  its  disguise  of  moderation  ;  John 
Calvin,  who  has  already  reformed  Luther,  and  who 
will  be  in  turn  reformed  by  a  thousand  others — for  the 
history  of  Protestantism  may  be  comprised  in  one  line, 
or  rather  in  one  word.  Reform,  that  is  to  say,  revolt ; 
reformation  of  reformation,  revolt  against  revolt, 
heresy  within  heresy,  an  array  of  schisms  crossing 
and  multiplying  within  the  schisms,  like  a  profusion 
of  noxious  weeds  in  the  field  of  the  bad  laborer  

*'  I  have  promised  to  build  a  chapel  (do  not  be  as- 
tonished, we  shall  build  many,  and  churches,  too)  on 
the  very  spot  in  Paris  where  was  conmiitted  against 
the  Blessed  Virgin  the  first  Lutheran  profanation.  It 
took  place  under  my  eyes,  in  the  Rue  Saint  Antoine, 
and  you  will  recognize  the  spot  by  seeing  dug  there 
the  foundations  of  the  sanctuary. 

"  The  sacrilegious  horde  was  conducted  thither  by  a 
page  in  the  livery  of  the  Duchess  d'Elampes,  the  friend 
of  the  king,  she  who,  too,  reforms  not  indeed  her  im- 
pure life,  but  the  ancient  honor  of  her  race,  by  selling 
her  treason  and  betraying  her  deceived  king  to  the  in. 
trigues  of  England. 

"  Through  the  medium  of  these  two  women,  seated 
upon  the  very  steps  of  the  throne,  and  on  whom  God 
3 


34 


The  Jesuits. 


has  so  abundantly  showered  His  gifts,  error  is  propa- 
gated throughout  France. 

"  The  schools  swarm  with  impious  books ;  the  first 
printed  blasphemy  of  Calvin  has  been  sent,  in  gilt 
binding,  to  her  who  can  so  easily  insinuate  it  even  into 
the  private  apartment  of  the  king.  Thanks  to  his  im- 
portunities, the  king  has  made  Nicholas  Cop  a  rector 
of  the  University  of  Paris,  and  on  the  last  feast  of  All 
Saints  this  master  of  Calvin,  now  become  his  disciple, 
thanked  the  king  for  this  mark  of  preference  by  publicly 
preaching  rebeUion,  not  only  against  the  Vatican,  but 
even  against  the  Louvre  

"  Is  this  the  extent  of  the  evil  ?  Alas  !  No.  This 
year  even,  Calvin,  who  lacks  the  personal  bravery  of 
Luther,  and  before  whose  eyes  his  tortured  conscience 
unceasingly  evokes  the  specter  of  personal  danger,  fled 
from  Paris.  Where  does  he  take  refuge  ?  At  the  court 
of  Nerac,  nigh  Marguerite  de  Valois,  Queen  of  Navarre  ! 
And  from  thence  he  endeavors  to  transport  error  in- 
to Catholic  Spain  !  while  on  the  other  side,  the  poison 
generated  in  Switzerland  and  traversing  Savoy,  pene- 
trated into  Piedmont,  always  hostile  toward  the  Holy 
See ;  it  is  propagated  by  Renee,  Duchess  of  Ferrara, 
daughter  of  Louis  XH.,  whose  extravagant  fondness 
for  Calvin  almost  equals  that  of  Marguerite  de  Valois 
herself,  and  who  joins  hands  with  Jean  Valdez,  the 
favorite  of  the  Viceroy  of  Naples,  whose  emissaries  in- 
sinuate themselves  even  into  Rome  


The  First  Vow,  35 

There,  in  the  Eternal  City,  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ, 
seated  upon  his  deserted  throne,  with  supplicating 
hands  raised  toward  heaven,  sees  the  deluge  steadily- 
rising,  submerging  all  parts  of  the  world  with  a  tide  of 
error,  and  rushing  from  all  parts  of  the  horizon,  to 
invade  the  heart  of  Catholicism,  the  last  bulwark  of 
Faith,  Authority,  and  Truth. 

"  I  have  told  you  nothing  new,  my  friends ;  the  evil 
is  so  glaring  that  one  may  even  see  it  with  closed 
eyes,  as  the  hght  of  a  mighty  conflagration  penetrates 
through  the  shut  lids. 

"  What  I  would  show  you  is  the  number  and  strength 
of  the  battalions  leagued  against  the  Faith.  Never  has 
such  an  assembly  of  mankind  joined  forces  against  it. 

"  Will  the  faith,  however,  be  vanquished  ?  It  can 
not  be. 

"Who  will  defend  it?    Jesus  Christ. 
"  Where  is  the  army  of  Jesus  ?    At  Rome  and  in 
France. 

"  Is  the  army  of  Rome  numerous  ?  No. 
"  Is  it  strong  ?  Yes. 

"  And  the  army  of  France  ?    It  is  here  ;  count  it. 

"Six  young  men  and  a  cripple,  who  to-morrow 
will  be  an  old  man ;  seven  souls  in  all. 

"  The  army  of  France  contains  only  one  Frenchman  ; 
do  not  despise  it,  for  in  it,  and  by  it,  God  will  accom- 
plish great  things. 

"  Whilst  you  have  waited  for  me  to  speak,  reproach- 


36  The  Jesuits, 

ing  my  silence,  the  humility  of  my  prayer  has  vouch- 
safed me  the  grace  of  reading  the  future.  1  have  read 
our  history  in  the  secret  of  Jesus.  God  accepts  us  for 
His  soldiers.  He  has  shown  me  the  immense  battle- 
field, where  another  standard  marches  against  His.  I 
have  seen  it.  I  have  seen  the  entire  world  descend 
into  the  arena  ;  I  have  seen  you  ;  I  have  seen  my- 
self. .... 

"  I  do  not  question  you  to  know  whether  it  be  your 
will  to  combat.  To  what  purpose  ?  I  know  that  your 
will  abandons  itself  to  the  will  of  God.  ....  And  I 
know  that  you  are  the  '  associates  of  Jesus,'  you  will 
bear  this  name ;  understand  me,  you  do  not  take  it ; 
God  gives  it  you  " 

"You  will  have  hours  of  triumph  so  grand  that  jealous 
hate  will  arise  about  you  like  a  whirlwind,  that  it  will 
be  stirred  to  its  depth  like  the  fuming  and  boiling  water 
which  tempers  the  red-hot  iron. 

"  And  you  will  have  reverses  so  terrible,  that  your 
enemies  will  place  their  feet  upon  what  they  believe 
to  be  your  corpse. 

Then,  you  will  not  strike,  and  nevertheless  they 
will  be  overthrown  You  will  never  strike. 

'*  Your  precept  is,  not  to  strike ;  and  by  this  pre- 
cept you  will  conquer. 

"What  is  the  name  of  the  enemy?  Revolt. 

"Where  is  Revolt?    In  heresy,  which  is  error. 


The  First  Vow. 


3; 


"  How  combat  revolt  and  heresy  ?  By  the  Author- 
ity which  is  the  Truth. 

"Where  are  authority  and  the  truth?  In  the 
Church,  together  with  Hberty,  which  is  the  right  of  Uv- 
ing  and  dying  according  to  the  law  of  God,  in  order 
to  be  born  again  in  the  glory  of  God. 

"  Is  the  Church  attacked  ?    Yes,  on  all  sides. 

"  Does  the  Church  need  to  be  defended  ?  The 
Church  herself,  no  ;  for  she  is  assured  of  living  by  the 
promise  of  Jesus  Christ.  But,  yes,  in  the  interest  of 
what  is  not  the  Church,  and  especially  in  the  interest 
of  the  actual  enemies  of  the  Church,  who  must  either 
return  to  her  fold  or  die,  since  beyond  the  Church 
there  is  no  salvation. 

"  We  do  not  wish  them  to  be  lost. 

"  How  then  to  defend  the  Church  ;  that  is  to  say, 
the  possibility  of  salvation  for  those  who  do  not  know 
the  Church,  and  for  those  who  persecute  the  Church? 

"  By  opposing  obedience  to  revolt,  self-abnegation 
to  egotism,  the  freedom  of  sacrifice  to  the  slavery  of 
covetousness  which  can  never  be  satiated  ;  in  a  word, 
by  making  Christians. 

"  How  shall  these  Christians  be  made  ?  By  the 
Word  of  Jesus  Christ  recalled  to  the  minds  of  men, 
and  taught  to  children  and  to  infidels. 

"  The  reign  of  brute  force  will  never  end ;  the  sword 
shall  be  supplanted  by  the  cannon,  only  until  some 


38 


The  Jesuits. 


force  more  mighty  still  shall  hurl  the  cannon  to  the 
dust ;  but  besides  these  inert  powers  which  blindly 
serve  the  justice  of  God  and  the  perversity  of  men, 
there  is  another  power  which  is  named  intellect. 

"  It  does  not  date  from  yesterday,  since  the  Gospel 
is  fifteen  hundred  years  old,  but  this  age  in  which  we 
live  begins  to  scatter  written  and  spoken  opinions  as 
food  for  the  appetite  of  the  many. 

"  In  itself  this  is  good  ;  only  error,  ever  v^atchful, 
taking  the  lead  of  the  unsuspecting  good,  makes  use 
of  this  as  a  tool  with  which  to  rebuild,  under  other 
names,  the  Hebrew  idol  and  the  altar  of  false  gods. 

"  It  is  vitally  necessary  to  combat  this  treason  of 
perverted  knowledge  against  ignorance,  which  can  not 
defend  itself. 

"We  will  not  be  the  warriors  of  the  sword,  but  of 
the  Word ;  we  will  preach  to  men  ;  we  will  teach 
children ;  we  will  make  Christians  by  precept  and  by 
education. 

"  I,  who  have  been  taught  by  all  of  you,  and  who 
possess  the  least  knowledge  among  you,  have  at  least 
the  science  of  the  humble,  and  you  have  chosen  me  to 
direct  your  hearts,  if  not  your  intelligences,  far  superior 
to  mine.  Why  ?  Because  you  have  seen  my  con- 
science, where  is  visible  only  the  name  of  Jesus  burn- 
ing like  a  torch. 

"  I  have  studied  at  Barcelona,  at  Salamanca,  at 
Alcala,  and  above  all  at  Paris ;  what  have  I  learnt  ? 


The  First  Vow. 


39 


The  language  of  doubt,  but  that  there  was  no  longer 
room  for  doubt  within  me.  Jesus  filled  my  soul  to 
overflowing,  and  the  distrust  of  men  has  only  aug- 
mented my  confidence  in  God. 

I  have  admired  the  eloquent  and  the  learned ;  I 
have  drunk  in  the  poetry  and  philosophy  which  flowed 
from  their  lips,  and  from  the  depths  of  my  soul  I  have 
repeated  the  prayer  to  my  Father  in  heaven  taught 
by  the  Man-God  himself  to  His  Apostles.  It  contains 
the  infinite  poetry  and  the  eternal  philosophy. 

I  have  heard  Buchanan,  the  eminent  poet ;  the  pro- 
found Latomus  ;  the  renowned  genius,  Gombaut ;  the 
universal  WiHiam  Bude  ;  Danes,  and  his  master,  Las- 
caiTs,  who  could  converse  with  Plato  in  the  pure  lan- 
guage of  Homer ;  Ramus,  so  acute  in  discerning  the 
traces  of  the  decaying  genius  of  Aristotle,  and  so  in- 
capable of  seeing  his  own  weaknesses ;  they  spoke 
commandingly,  all  these  grand  intellects ;  but  above 
their  sonorous  voices  I  heard  the  voice  of  God,  which 
told  me  to  believe,  to  hope,  to  love,  and  to  abandon 
my  soul  to  the  miracle  of  His  mercy. 

''And  I  loved,  I  hoped,  and  I  believed  each  day 
still  more  ;  tasting  the  joys  of  faith,  even  in  the  midst 
of  the  most  presumptuous  denials  of  it ;  appreciating 
the  more  the  happiness  of  hope,  as  I  listened  to  the 
skillful  arguments  advanced  to  discourage  if ;  and 
sending  to  the  heavens  a  canticle  of  joy  above  the 
lamentations  of  hate. 


40 


The  Jesuits. 


For  all  blasphemy  is  a  cry  of  agony,  extorted  by 
the  torture  of  remorse  !  .  .  .  . 

"Since  the  thrice -blessed  hour  when  God  visited 
me  on  my  sick-bed,  I  have  been  seeking  my  way,  the 
road  w^hich  will  conduct  me  to  the  end  so  passionately 
desired ;  the  greater  glory  of  God,  that  is  to  say, 
'  the  greater  salvation  of  mankind.' 

"  On  this  road,  my  thought  has  had  three  stopping- 
places. 

In  my  grotto  of  Manresa,  I  devoted  myself  to  alms- 
giving and  prayer,  the  powerful  means  which  consti- 
tuted the  arms  of  the  first  solitaries.  I  was  yet  in 
ignorance  of  the  malady  which  afflicts  our  age  ;  never- 
theless, something  murmured  within  me,  '  This  is  ftot 
enough.' 

"  The  Mother  of  Jesus,  whom  I  unceasingly  im- 
plored, inspired  me  with  the  need  I  felt  to  visit 
Calvary.  All  the  length  of  my  voyage  I  heard  a 
furious  menace  made  of  the  name  of  Luther. 

"  The  desire  of  the  combat  was  born  within  me. 

"  This  was  the  second  station  of  my  journey. 

"  And  the  combat  of  which  I  speak  was  even  the 
one  that  I  have  but  now  defined ;  the  combat  which 
is  now  without  blows,  and  which  is  fought  only  for  the 
happiness  of  the  adversary — the  supernatural  combat 
of  Charity. 

"  And  already,  I  thought ;  How  little  will  the  world 
believe  of  the  sincerity  of  such  an  efi"ort  which  utterly 


The  First  Vow. 


41 


overthrows  the  equihbrium  of  human  nature  !  Noth- 
ing for  nothing ;  such.is  the  law  of  the  world  ! 

"  And  I  heard  beforehand  the  mighty  clamor  which 
would  be  raised  against  me,  crying,  '  Hypocrite  ! 
hypocrite  !  hypocrite  ! ' 

"  It  is  the  hardest  insult  to  submit  to. 
I  yet  retain  within  a  corner  of  my  heart  the  pride 
of  a  soldier.  '  Hypocrite  !  hypocrite  !  '  May  I  live 
loaded  with  this  insult ;  may  I  die  absorbed  in  this 
cry,  my  Saviour  and  my  God,  and  may  my  shame  be 
your  glory  ! " 

"  In  order  to  preach,  however,  as  well  as  to  teach, 
it  is  necessary  to  have  knowledge.  I  studied  ;  and 
while  studying,  the  mysterious  voice  which  I  had 
heard  at  Manresa  still  sounded  in  my  ears,  murmuring 
ever  the  selfsame  words  :  '  This  is  not  enough.' 

"  Oh,  Blessed  Virgin  !  I  implored  ;  Mother  Im- 
. maculate  !  what  is  still  needed  ?  Will  I  not  obtain  a 
knowledge  of  what  God  wills  me  to  do  ?  ....  I 
pause  at  this  point,  overwhelmed  with  veneration, 
happiness,  and  sorrow.  I  experience  the  same  emo- 
tions each  time  that  the  revelation  of  the  mysterious 
and  miraculous  facts  that  have  marked  my  time  of 

trial  arises  to  my  lips  Was  I  worthy  of  seeing 

and  hearing  what  I  have  seen  and  heard  ?  Oh,  Jesus  ! 
full  of  tenderness  and  pity  !  Treasure  of  the  poor, 
Glory  of  the  humble  !  the  day  even  upon  which  I  first 


42 


The  Jesuits. 


clasped  the  hands  of  Peter  Lef  evre,  who  was  to  be  the 
first  consecrated  among  us,  my  strength  augmented, 
my  hope  redoubled,  and  the  idea  of  this  association 
being  inspired  within  my  soul,  never  again  did  the 
voice  repeat,  '  That  is  not  enough.' 

"  It  was  not  enough  ;  with  the  idea  of  the  associa- 
tion, its  plan  was  clearly  outlined  in  my  mind. 

"  I  am  a  soldier ;  I  can  dream  only  of  an  army. 
Moreover,  do  T  not  continually  remember  having  seen 
in  my  first  ecstacies  the  prodigious  multitude  who 
march  in  darkness  against  the  standard  of  the  Cross, 
and  the  mystical  conflict  beneath  the  two  standards 
on  the  boundless  plain  ? 

"  My  army  existed,  although  I  was  yet  alone  with 
Lefevre,  to  whom  I  had  revealed  nothing. 

"You  came,  one  after  the  other,  my  friends  and 
childfen,  and  without  your  knowledge  I  enrolled  you. 
Others  presented  themselves,  but  I  paused  at  seven. 

"  For  the  present,  there  will  be  no  more.  What  the 
future  demands,  God  will  supply. 

"  We  are  seven,  against  millions  of  men  unfaithful  to 
God.  Even  the  millions  of  mankind  who  remain  faith- 
ful to  God  are  not  always  with  us. 

"  We  do  not  know  our  friends  who  are  ignorant  of 
our  existence  ;  but  we  know  our  enemies,  and  we  will 
make  ourselves  known  to  them. 

"  We  have  neither  authority  nor  mission ;  we  pos- 


The  First  Voiv. 


43 


sess  only  right,  the  right  of  bestowing  ourselves,  with- 
out exacting  anything  in  return.  Our  force  lies  in  the 
absence  of  all  force.  We  desire  neither  arras,  nor 
subsidies,  norjramparts,  nor  anything  perishable. 

"  We  shall  possess  all  in  Jesus  Christ. 

"  We  will  walk  among  men  as  the  Divine  Master 
traversed  Judea,  with  extended  hands  and  Undisguised 
heart.  We  are  to-day  what  yesterday  I  alone  con- 
stituted— the  Society  founded  to  carry  the  Cross  of 
Jesus. 

Each  of  us  will  fall  along  the  road  under  the 
weight  of  this  sweet  and  awful  burden.  But  what 
matters  it  ?  The  work  will  live  and  increase.  I  know  it. 

"  The  Society  of  Jesus  will  conquer  in  Jesus  and 
through  Jesus. 

"  It  will  arrest  the  progress  of  the  desertion  which 
desolates  the  temple  ;  it  will  fill  up  the  great  voids 
which  have  been  made  in  the  ranks  of  the  faithful. 

"  Do  not  doubt ;  this  will  be  accomplished. 

"  Antiquity  possesses  a  sublime  fable  :  Orpheus,  in 
search  of  his  love,  penetrated  even  into  the  regions  of 
death.  We  will  do  as  Orpheus  ;  the  Society  of  Jesus 
will  seek  the  victims  of  apostasy  even  in  the  hell  of 
apostasy;  it  will  rescue  these  precious  souls  from 
death,  and  plunging  into  the  most  profound  abyss, 
will  endeavor  to  snatch  from  supreme  misfortune  the 
6oul  of  the  apostate  himself.  .... 

"Already  some  misled  souls  hesitate,  and  question 


44 


The  Jesuits. 


which  is  the  right  road  ;  it  will  take  but  little -to  direct 
these  aright. 

"But  there  are  also  multitudes  of  new-born  souls, 
those  of  the  children,  the  beloved  children,  of  whom 
Jesus  said  :  '  Let  theui  come  unto  me  ; '  we  will  take 
these  children  by  the  hand,  and  we  will  lead  them  to 
Jesus  ;  this  will  not  greatly  affect  the  present,  although 
it  may  do  much  for  the  future. 

"Again,  there  are  multitudes  of  souls,  as  impossible 
to  number  as  the  grains  of  sapd  upon  the  sea-shore, 

who  dwell  in  spiritual  darkness  beyond  the  Ocean  

Xavier,  thine  eye  sparkles ;  I  know  how  your  great 
heart  has  bled  at  this  recital  of  the  travelers,  showing 
how  the  yoke  of  the  demon  weighs  upon  the  Indies, 
Japan,  China,  the  countries  of  Africa  and  America — 
in  a  word,  upon  the  vaster  portion  of  the  earth  

"You  shall  go,  Xavier;  we  will  go  ;  the  Society  of 
Jesus  will  go  ;  it  will  pay,  at  the  price  of  the  blood  of 
its  martyrs,  for  as  many  souls  as  have  been  lost  by  the 
Church  in  the  shipwreck  of  the  Reformation,  and 
double,  and  treble  the  number,  insomuch  that  the  fold 
of  the  Good  Shepherd  shall  be  filled  again  to  over- 
flowing." 

"  Let  us  praise  God.  We  are  the  army  of  God  

I  say,  '  We  are,'  ....  for  the  work  is  founded  ;  it 
exists,  since  my  thought  is  no  longer  known  to  myself 
alone  ;  since  it  has  passed  from  my  soul  into  yours. 


The  First  Vow. 


45 


We  are  born.  Here  is  the  cradle  of  a  force.  In  esti- 
mating the  age  of  this  force,  men  will  reckon  from  the 
act  of  its  sanction  •  for  us,  it  will  date  from  the  day- 
consecrated  to  the  Immaculate  Queen  of  Angels.  We 
know  that  from  the  present  hour  we  are  the  soldiers 
of  prayer,  of  sacrifice,  and  of  charity. 

"  Every  army  must  have  a  General,  and  we  shall  have 
a  General  who  will  be  our  earthly  chief.  Nothing  in 
the  world  shall  be  more  vast,  nor  more  complete  than 
his  authority,  if  it  be  not  our  liberty. 

"And  this  liberty,  united  to  this  authority,  will  form 
a  whole,  which  shall  be  perfect  obedience,  the  only 
remedy  applicable  to  the  fever  of  the  times. 

"The  obedience  of  which  I  speak  can  be  defined 
only  by  naming  Him  to  whom  it  will  be  due,  in  the 
same  measure,  and  by  the  same  right,  as  well  by  our 
Superior-General  as  by  the  last  among  us.  This  Su- 
preme Chief  we  do  not  look  for  here  below,  but  in 
heaven ;  it  shall  be  Thou,  oh,  Jesus  Christ,  our 
Saviour ! 

"  To  obey  you,  O  God  !  is  to  be  free,  and  to  com-  , 
mand  in  your  Holy  Name  is  to  obey. 

"  The  tree  of  Faith,  which  is  the  tree  of  the  Cross, 
puts  forth  its  symmetrical  branches  of  authority  and 
obedience ;  both  bear  the  same  fruit,  which  is  liberty. 

"  To  command,  to  obey  ;  two  phases  of  the  same 
sacrifice ;  two  meanings  of  the  same  word ;  love ! 
Jesus,  Lord,  on  your  level,  he  who  commands  is  the 


46 


The  Jesuits. 


most  humble.  He  is  the  servant  among  servants ;  he 
appertains  to  those  who  belong  to  you  ;  and  thus 
only,  O  God,  our  Saviour  !  in  you,  and  by  you,  can 
the  abnegation  of  power  and  the  devotion  of  obedience 
be  joined  in  a  union  which  brings  forth  liberty  " 

"  We  are  seven  to-day ;  to-morrow  we  can  number  a 
thousand.  It  is  necessary  that  an  earthly  chief  be  a 
powerful  instrument  in  the  hands  of  our  Divine  Master, 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Common  Father  of  the 
faithful. 

"  Our  house  shall  not  be  built  in  view  of  human  in- 
terest ;  nevertheless,  our  house  will  flourish,  even  after 
a  method  which  shall  not  enter  into  the  vocation  of 
the  Order,  nor  into  its  efforts,  but  which  may  be  nec- 
essary, according  to  the  times,  to  the  accompHshment 
of  its  providential  work. 

I  know  it ;  I  see  it ;  I  affirm  it. 

"  I  know,  I  see,  and  I  affirm,  that  the  earthly  Chief 
of  our  Order,  the  General  of  our  pacific  army,  shall  be 
powerful  among  the  great  ones  of  the  earth,  even  in 
the  depth  of  his  humility.  It  is  necessary ;  it  will  be. 
Thus  you  will  choose  him  '  intimately  united  to  God/ 
as  much  in  prayer  as  in  all  his  other  actions,  in  order 
that  he  may  himself  possess,  by  reason  of  going  to  the 
fountain-head,  the  abundance  of  grace  which  should  be 
diffused  by  him  throughout  our  body.* 


*  St.  Ignatius,  "  Constitutions,"  Part  IX. 


The  First  Vow. 


A7 


"  He  is  bound  to  recommend,  by  his  example,  the 
practice  of  all  virtues,  'especially  the  splendor  of 
charity;'  there  should  be  seen  in  him,  humility  of 
soul,  exterior  modesty,  circumspection  in  speech, 
a  severity  tempered  with  sweetness  ;  and  an  invincible 
courage  inspired  by  the  words  of  the  apostle  St.  Paul, 
'For  when  I  am  weak  then  am  I  pow^erful.'* 

"As  for  what  is  knov/n  as  force  in  human  language — ■ 
science,  intelligence,  discernment,  prudence  in  direct- 
ing affairs — God  will  supply  them  ;  because  our  chief 
will  be  the  servant  whom  the  Lord  has  named  '  quern 
constituit  Dominus'  to  command  the  family.  'He 
will  appear  to  be  above,  but  he  will  be  really  beneath.' 
The  family  weighs  heavily  upon  him,  and  he  can  say, 
'  Lord,  you  have  placed  men  over  our  heads  ;  impos- 
uisti  homines  super  capita  nostra. 't 

"This  authority,  which  shall  be  confided  by  us  in 
Jesus  Christ  to  the  chosen  father  of  the  family,  will 
seem  so  complete,  that  it  shall  be  said,  '  Nothing  of 
the  kind  has  ever  existed  ;  it  is  a  troop  of  slaves  led 
by  a  tyrant,'  and  others  will  go  further,  saying,  '  He 
is  a  despot,  seated  upon  corpses  ! ' 

"  Singular  slaves,  these,  who  recognize  above  them 

*  Quum  enim  infirmor  tunc  potens  sum.  II,  ad  Cor. 
xii.  lo. 

fWords  of  Father  de  Ponlevoy,  cited  in  the  admirable 
work  of  Father  de  Galriac,  p.  357  of  the  "  Life  of  Father  de 
Ponlevoy." 


48 


The  Jesuits. 


but  God  alone.  -  And  whoever  attacks  the  religion  of 
Christ,  will  see  these  corpses  arise. 

"  No,  those  who  will  speak  thus  shall  be  either  mis- 
taken or  calumniators ;  there  will  be  in  our  house 
neither  tyrants,  slaves,  nor  corpses.  There  will  be 
only  living  and  free  Christians. 

"An  election  will  be  the  guarantee  of  this  power, 
really  magnificent  in  strength  and  extent,  and  during 
its  entire  duration  it  will  be  sustained,  balanced,  and 
controlled  by  the  judgment  of  the  assembled  famil}'-. 
Never,  as  courtiers,  shall  they  gather  about  their  head, 
but  as  counselors,  aids,  and  judges.  His  work  shall 
be  the  application  of  certain  and  permanent  laws, 
which  he  wdll  not  have  made,  and  which  he  shall 
neither  elude  nor  abolish.  He  will  do  all,  it  is  certain, 
for  good,  but  he  will  do  nothing  for  evil.  He  will  do 
all— 

"  For  the  greater  glory  of  God. 
For  the  best  service  to  souls. 
For  the  sanctification  of  his  brethren. 
For  the  sacrifice  of  himself. 
He  will  do  nothing  prejudicial  to  truth. 

Nothing  against  justice. 

Nothing  against  charity.* 

There  will  be  above  him,  above  the  power  that  will 
be  represented  as  absolute  by  its  enemies,  God,  the 


*  St.  Ignatius,  "  Constitutions/'  Part  VI. 


The  First  Vow. 


49 


Vicar  of  God,  the  interior  law,  that  is  to  say,  the  law 
of  the  State ;  the  exterior  law,  which  is  the  Rule,  and 
the  society  itself,  obedient,  but  sovereign. 

We  are  the  army  of  Authority,  we  shall  bear  author- 
ity. We  desire  it  as  great,  and  greater  than  ever  was 
borne  by  any  union  of  men  here  below,  but  we  wish  free- 
dom too ;  and  we  shall  enjoy  truer  and  wider  freedom 
than  any  human  society  heretofore,  because  we  shall 
be  nothing  in  our  house,  where  God  shall  be  all. 

"Jesus  Christ  is  our  beginning  and  our  end. 

''We  see  Jesus  Christ  in  our  General ;  our  General 
sees  Jesus  Christ  in  us ;  Christus  omnia  in  o??inibus. 

"It  is  thus  that  our  celestial  mother  has  given  me 
a  heritage  for  you,  which  is  the  Rule  of  Jesus,  so  vast 
as  to  contain  at  once  perfect  authority  and  perfect 
liberty  in  such  measure  as  comports  with  the  sorrowful 
passage  of  man  here  below. 

"  I  see  it ;  I  know  it ;  I  affirm  it  

"  We  are  seven,  we  /:an  be  one  hundred  thousand. 
Throughout  our  ranks,  composed  of  the  dull  and  the 
talented,  as  they  will  be,  the  Rule,  allowing  authority 
to  be  exercised  to  its  utmost  limits,  guarded  as  it  will 
be  against  all  excess  by  the  counterpoise  of  liberty, 
will  penetrate  our  entire  body  with  the  life  and  force 
which  is  known  in  war  as  discipline,  and  which  is  a 
lesser  and  an  expedient  form  of  the  absolute,  which  is 
perfect  obedience. 
4 


50 


TJie  Jesuits. 


"  Our  army  of  peace  shall  substitute  for  discipline 
self-abandonment,  such  as  is  owed  b}'  man  only  to 
God,  and  which  we  will  voluntarily  render  to  one 
who  will  be  for  us  the  representative  of  the  Son  of 
God. 

"  Now,  or  never,  is  the  hour  to  oppose,  to  the  awful 
flood,  a  barrier  of  devoted  hearts.  Prayer  will  no 
longer  suffice ;  it  is  necessary  to  work.  Others  have 
hitherto  assembled  to  imitate  Mary  of  Bethany  in  her 
pious  contemplation  at  the  feet  of  Jesus.  Happy  were 
they ;  let  us  praise  them  ;  we  may  not  imitate  them. 

"As  for  us,  we  are  the  children  of  Martha,  who  serves. 
We  will  be  priests  at  the  same  time  that  we  are  re- 
ligious, and  we  shall  accomplish  the  work  of  priests. 
Study  the  confessional,  the  pulpit,  the  school,  alms  of 
spiritual  and  temporal  bread  ;  behold  your  task. 

"  Combating  the  present  evil,  preparing  future  good, 
preaching  the  Word  in  the  thickest  of  the  schism,  and 
especially  where  the  Truth  is  attacked  ;  going  in  search 
of  ignorance  and  error  even  to  the  confines  of  the 
earth  ;  teaching  the  little  ones  to  spell,  youth  to 
believe,  manhood  to  think  ;  men,  women,  and  all,  to 
love  God,  the  country,  and  the  family ;  teaching  the 
powerful,  clemency;  the  feeble,  resignation  —  com- 
panion of  hope  ;  the  rich,  generosity ;  the  unfortunate, 
pardon ;  all,  the  holy  law  of  charity ;  behold  your  life  ! 

"  To  revolt  we  will  oppose  our  vow  of  obedience  ;  to 


The  First  Vow. 


51 


avaricious  egotism  our  vow  of  poverty  ;  to  pride  and 
ambition  our  vow  of  humility. 

"  Neither  for  praying,  nor  for  celebrating  mass,  nor 
for  preaching,  nor  teaching,  shall  we  receive  offerings 
of  money  from  any  person,  and  yet  they  will  reproach 
us ;  for  we  shall  have  other  enemies  than  the  enemies 
of  the  Church. 

*'  Notwithstanding  the  absence  of  all  remuneration, 
our  poverty  will  build  immense  dwellings  and  dis- 
tribute large  alms. 

"  Our  foes  will  be  astonished  at  that,  and  we  will  be 
accused.  We  will  pursue  our  way,  undaunted,  as  if 
the  insult  were  not  offered,  loving  those  who  have  out- 
raged us  as  ourselves,  for  the  love  of  God. 

"  It  is  here,  my  children,  where  arises  the  difficulty  to 
do,  and  the  impossibility  to  believe. 

The  law  which  ordains  to  turn  the  other  cheek,  is 
inhuman,  and  so  utterly  repugnant  to  the  heart  of 
man  that  he,  in  view  of  the  accomplished  law,  sees, 
and  always  will  see,  hypocrisy  in  the  impossible  sacri- 
fice, or  baseness  in  the  heroism,  that  he  can  not  com- 
prehend. 

I  *•  Never  will  a  man  be  found,  detached  from  God,  to 
admit  that  it  needs  one  thousand  times  more  courage 
to  swallow  the  bitterness  of  outrage  than  to  spit  it  into 
the  face  of  the  in  suiter. 

"  To  men,  on  account  of  the  miracle  of  our  poverty 


52 


The  Jesuits. 


we  shall  appear  to  be  thieves  ;  on  account  of  the  mir- 
acle of  our  charity,  we  will  seem  to  be  hypocrites  ;  on 
account  of  the  miracle  of  our  humility,  we  shall  be 
accounted  base  men. 

"  Glory  be  to  God  ! 
Our  death  even  will  disarm  neither  mockery  nor  in- 
sult ;  it  will  be  said  of  us,  as  it  was  said  of  our  divine 
Master,  '  that  we  have  sustained  our  role  unto  the 
end,'  that  our  last  sigh  is  our  last  falsehood. 

"  Glory,  glory  to  God  alone  ! 

"We  are  the  companions  of  Him  whom  opprobrium 
glorified. 

"  Praise  be  to  the  Lord  !  Even  as  our  destitution 
shall  be  a  store  of  wealth,  our  baseness  a  supernatural 
courage,  so  shall  our  overthrow  confer  on  us  an  un- 
rivaled power. 

"Under  the  feet  of  our  enemies,  kings  and  people 
will  seek  us.  Lord,  keep  from  us  pride  on  the  steps  of 
the  throne,  as  well  as  in  the  depths  of  misery. 

"  Glory  to  God  !  All  glory  to  God  !  All  for  the 
greater  glory  of  God." 

Ignatius  fell  on  his  knees,  and  the  six  imitated  his 
example.    None  of  them  had  yet  spoken. 

Ignatius  raised  his  clasped  hands,  and  said  in  Latin  : 
"Jesus  most  patient." 


The  First  Vow. 


53 


The  others  responded  in  the  same  tongue : 
"  Have  mercy  upon  us. 

Jesus  most  obedient, 

Have  mercy  upon  us. 

Jesus,  sweet  and  humble  of  heart, 

Have  mercy  upon  us. 

"  Let  us  pray. — O  God,  who  by  the  intercession  of 
the  Immaculate  Virgin,  hath  kindled  the  light  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  soul  of  your  servants,  grant,  if  it  be 
Thy  holy  will,  that  their  dwelling  here  below  be  built 
for  all,  and  not  for  themselves,  in  order  that  having 
given  their  lives  for  the  salvation  of  men  in  Jesus  Christ, 
they  may  never  cease  to  be  persecuted  for  your  greater 
glory.  Thou  who  livest  and  reignest  forever  and  ever. — - 
Amen." 

And  having  made  the  sign  of  the  cross,  they  arose. 

It  was  now  broad  day.  The  people  of  the  neigh- 
borhood were  hastening  along  the  various  roads  to  at- 
tend mass  at  the  parish  abbey.  Ignatius  and  his  sons 
took  a  path  to  the  left  of  the  church,  through  the  field 
which  made  a  descent  from  the  cemetery  to  the  chapel 
of  the  martyr,  situate  as  we  have 'described,  and  whose 
vicinity  was  then  deserted.  They  entered  alone  into 
the  crypt,  which  was  prepared  for  the  Holy  Sacrifice. 
Tradition  fixes  nine  o'clock  as  the  hour  at  which  Peter 
Lefevre  celebrated  mass. 


54 


The  Jc splits. 


"  After  having  fasted  and  prayed  in  common,"  says 
Cretineau-Joly,  "  they  assembled  on  the  fifteenth  of 
August,  1534,  in  a  subterranean  chapel  of  the  Church 
of  Montmartre,*  which  pious  beHeff  assigns  as  the  spot 
where  St.  Denis  was  decapitated.  It  was  the  feast  of  the 
Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  Ignatius  had  chosen 
this  day  in  order  that  the  Society  should  be  born  in  the 
heart  of  Mary  triumphant. 

There  these  seven  Christians,  to  whom  Peter  Lef  evre 
had  administered  communion  with  his  own  hands, 
made  a  vow  to  live  in  chastity.  They  pledged  them- 
selves to  observe  perpetual  poverty ;  they  promised 
God,  that  after  having  finished  their  theological  course, 
they  would  undertake  a  voyage  to  Jerusalem  ;  but  if,  at 
the  end  of  a  year,  they  found  it  impossible  to  gain  the 
Holy  City  (on  account  of  the  war),  they  would  go  to 
throw  themselves  at  the  feet  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiflf.J 
to  beg  of  him  existence  as  an  Order,  and  receive  his 
command. 

And  this  was  all ;  the  Society  of  Jesus  was  founded. 
*  Which  is  a  slight  error. 

j-  And  impious  belief  also  ;  witness  Dulaure,  for  example. 
\  "  History  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,''  Vol.  I.,  p.  26. 


II. 


THE  FIRST  FATHERS. 

Tm  the  will  of  God  all  is  marked  out ;  but  as  there 
13  in  eternity  nothing  of  haste,  so  the  designs  of  God 
aie  accomplished  with  immutable  regularity. 

Between  the  first  thought  conceived,  or  rather  re- 
ceived, by  inspiration  in  the  Grotto  of  Manresa,  and 
the  first  word  uttered  on  the  summits  of  Montmatre, 
which  command  the  city  of  Paris,  and  on  which,  to- 
morrow, a  marvelous  temple  vowed  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  was  to  arise  to  admonish  the  world,  there  was 
an  interval  of  fourteen  years. 

It  was  only  five  years  after  the  vow  of  Montmartre, 
in  the  year  1539,  that  Pope  Paul  III.,  taking  cogni- 
zance of  the  abridged  formula  of  the  "  Constitutions  " 
of  the  new  Order,  presented  by  Ignatius  Loyola,  and 
comparing,  with  his  gift  of  infallibility,  the  menace  to 
the  world,  the  promise  of  heaven,  the  danger  to  be 
averted,  and  this  dawning  light  with  the  victory  of 
darkness,  cried,    Hie  est  Dei  digitus."*- 

Still  it  was  not  until  the  end  of  another  year  that  the 
promulgation  of  the  Bull,  Regemitii  melitantis  Ecclesice, 


Here  is  the  finger  of  God. 


(55) 


56 


The  Jesuits. 


took  place,  which  canonically  instituted  the  Society 
of  Jesiis. 

To  those  who  are  astonished  at  this  delay,  we  an- 
swer by  the  very  text  of  the  Constitutions,"  where 
St.  Ignatius  takes  as  much  time  and  as  many  precau- 
tions to  make  a  single  Jesuit,  as  to  create  the  entire 
Order. 

In  fact,  a  remarkable  thing,  and  one  which  can  not 
be  too  much  dwelt  upon,  is  the  respect  of  Saint  Ig- 
natius for  his  work  as  being  an  instrument  destined  by 
him  to  the  special  and  immediate  service  of  the  Al- 
mighty. Never  has  an  Order  exacted,  to  test  the  vo- 
cation and  capacity  of  its  members,  such  a  series  of 
long  and  difficult  proofs. 

Here,  truly,  perpetual  effort  and  abundant  patience 
are  the  aids  and  the  testimony  of  grace.  All  is  won 
from  God,  but  by  the  severe  labor  of  man. 

Let  us  count.  There  are  two  years  spent  in  the 
Novitiate  without  study  (which,  however,  supposes 
some  necessary  preliminary  study)  in  order  to  arrive 
at  the  grade  of  scholastic,  or  scholar,  which  comprises 
two  years  of  Rhetoric,  three  years  of  Philosophy  (and 
Science),  and  at  least  one  year  of  Regency;*  then 
come  four,  and  sometimes  six  years  of  Theology; 
after,  the  year  of  final  probation,  undergone  in  Re- 


*  They  thus  term  the  professorship  exercised  by  the  young 
Religious. 


The  First  Fathers, 


57 


trea/;,  after  which  one  is  admitted  "  professed,"  or  be- 
comes a  member  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  which  gives, 
according  to  Father  de  Ravignan,  cited  in  the  excellent 
work  of  M.  Ad.  Archier,  a  "  minimum  "  of  fourteen 
years  for  an  effective  novitiate — in  memory,  perhaps, 
of  the  equal  lapse  of  time  which  in  the  life  of  Saint 
Ignatius  separated  Manresa  from  Montmartre. 

Another  proof  of  the  deliberation  which  attended 
the  first  operations  of  Ignatius  and  his  sons,  is  that 
between  the  vow  of  Montmatre  and  the  visit  to  the 
Chief  of  the  Church,  but  three  recruits  were  admitted 
into  the  Company,  which  carried  the  total  number  of 
the  affiliated  up  to  ten.  These  three  recruits,  who 
were  to  be  no  less  celebrated  than  their  older  spiritual 
brethren,  were  named  Claudius  Le  Jay,  d'Annecy, 
John  Codure  of  Dauphiny,  and  Pasquier  Brouet  of 
Picardy. 

Accompanied  on  foot,  the  rosary  about  their  neck 
and  a  canticle  on  their  lips,  by  Lef  evre,  Xavier,  Laynez, 
Bobadilla,  Salmeron,  and  Rodriquez,  they  accomplish- 
ed the  long  and  difficult  pilgrimage  through  Protestant 
Germany,  which  brought  them  to  Venice,  where  Igna- 
tius awaited  them,  and  where,  having  recognized  the 
impossibility  of  gaining  Jerusalem,  they  separated,  to 
meet  again  at  Rome,  at  the  feet  of  His  Hohness  the 
Pope. 

There,  notwithstanding  the  good-will  of  the  Holy 
Father,  they  were  met  by  grave  obstacles,  and  it 


58 


The  Jesuits. 


would  seem  as  if  the  strange  and  obstinate  repugnance 
which  should  in  the  future  ever,  and  in  a  special  man- 
ner, attempt  to  check  the  effort  of  the  company  of 
Jesus,  came  into  existence  with  it,  or  even  before  it. 

Rome  was  at  that  time  in  an  attitude  of  legitimate 
hostility  toward  certain  Religious  Orders,  of  which  the 
decadence  had  done  so  much  to  furnish  a  pretext  for 
rebellion,  and  which  had  furnished  so  many  apostates 
from  the  Faith  to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  battalions  of 
heresy. 

Evil  had  obtained  such  headway  in  the  cloisters,  and 
the  falling  off  in  virtue  had  become  so  great,  that 
Cardinal  Guiddiccioni,  he  of  whom  Paul  III.  said,  in 
learning  of  his  decease,  "  My  successor  has  just  died," 
had  proposed  the  plan  of  suppressing  all  the  Orders, 
with  the  exception  of  four. 

It  was  to  this  prelate,  first  among  his  counselors, 
that  the  Pope  confided  the  examination  of  the  Con^ 
stitutions  "  of  Ignatius,  joining  with  him  in  the  work 
two  other  commissioners. 

Guiddiccioni,  whose  opinion  had  its  foundation  in 
the  misfortunes  of  the  time,  and  not  in  the  examination 
of  the  new  work,  reported  "  that  there  was  no  reason 
for  authorizing  it,"  and  his  sentiments  ruled  those  of 
his  assistants. 

But  these  ten  men  had  in  them  something  which 
was  not  human.  In  place  of  protesting,  they  praised 
God,  and  offered  themselves  to  whomever  would  take 


The  First  Fathers. 


59 


them,  for  the  service  of  the  Almighty,  asking  nothing 
in  return,  and  all  advancing  with  equal  pace  in  the 
pathway  of  their  steadfast  faith. 

They  quietly  separated,  each  to  combat  heresy  at 
the  divers  points  where  it  gained  the  firmest  footing  ; 
Lef  evre  and  Laynez  at  Parma  ;  Bobadilla  in  the  Isle 
of  Ischia  ;  Le  Jay  at  Brescia,  infected  by  the  plague ; 
Pasquier  Brouet,  at  Sienna,  where  revolt  had  invaded 
the  convents  of  the  Religious ;  Codure  at  Padua, 
Francis  Xavier  and  Rodriquez  at  Lisbon,  where  they 
pressed  already  the  preparations  of  the  expedition 
which  should  enwreathe  with  such  glorious  immortality 
the  name  of  the  "Apostle  of  the  Indies." 

In  the  meantime.  Cardinal  Guiddiccioni  was  con- 
stantly importuned  and  besieged  by  the  voices  of  those 
who  fostered  the  humble  reputation  of  these  indefat- 
igable laborers,  working  everywhere  in  unison. 

The  Society  of  Jesus  leaped  into  life,  and  electrified 
the  world  by  its  sudden  growth  and  marvelous  achieve- 
ments. 

And  the  learned  Cardinal,  who  had  shared  the  in- 
credulity of  Zachary,  at  length  opened  his  eyes.  He 
studied  the  work  of  Ignatius,  which  he  had  condemned 
without  reading,  and  as  soon  as  he  had  done  so,  in- 
toned a  canticle. 

The  man  who  had  been  the  first  to  proclaim  the 
necessity  of  suppressing  the  greater  part  of  the  Re- 
ligious Orders,  and  cutting  down  those  which  should 


6o 


The  Jesuits. 


be  allowed  to  survive,  loudl}''  declared  that  it  was 
"  good,  opportune,  and  indispensable  to  authorize  the 
Society  of  Jesus,"  in  order  to  oppose  it,  on  one  side, 
to  the  flood  of  interior  corruption,  and  to  meet  on  the 
other  the  invasions  from  abjroad. 

The  Bull,  containing  a  clear  and  exact  synopsis  of 
the  Constitutions,  devoted  a  considerable  margin  to 
the  approbation  of  the  Holy  See,  as  expressed  therein. 
The  work  of  Ignatius  was  sanctioned,  not  only  as  a 
whole,  but  even  in  its  details,  and  the-  Institution  be- 
came an  instrument  of  the  Church. 

Immediately  following  the  promulgation  of  the  Bull, 
came  the  election  of  a  General. 

The  service  of  religion  detained  the  greater  part  of 
the  members  at  a  distance  from  Rome.  These  voted 
by  writing. 

The  others,  Le  Jay,  Salmeron,  Laynez,  Codure,  and 
Brouet,  were  collected  about  Ignatius.  Three  days 
were  consecrated  to  fasting  and  prayer,  to  implore  the 
light  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  on  the  fourth,  by  an 
unanimous  vote,  Ignatius  Loyola  was  elected  General, 
or  "  proposed,"  to  employ  the  terms  of  the  Bull. 

Ignatius  might  have  expected  this  result,  neverthe- 
less it  terrified  him. 

Disobedient  for  the  first  and  last  time,  without 
utterly  refusing  the  charge  imposed — a  proceeding 
which  would  have  been  in  direct  contravention  of 
the  rule  established  by  himself — he  disputed,  to  the  ut- 


The  First  Fathers,  6t 


most  of  his  power,  the  unanimous  will  of  his  brethren, 
and  insisted  upon  a  new  election,  which  terminated  as 
the  first. 

At  this  he  shed  tears,  comprehending  fully  as  he  did 
the  extent  of  his  responsibility,  but  yielded.  He  had 
at  that  time  attained  his  fiftieth  year,  and  had  been 
four  years  a  priest. 

"  On  Easter  Day,  the  seventeenth  of  April,  1540,  he 
accepted  the  government  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 
On  the  twenty-second  of  the  same  month,  after  having 
visited  the  Basilicas  of  Rome,  Ignatius  and  his  com- 
panions arrived  at  that  of  Saint  Paul,  outside  the 
walls.  The  General  celebrated  mass  at  the  altar  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  then  before  communicating,  turned 
toward  the  people.  In  one  hand  he  held  the  Sacred 
Host,  in  the  other  the  formula  of  the  Vows. 

"  He  pronounced  this  formula  in  a  loud  voice,  pledg- 
ing himself  to  obedience,  in  regard  to  the  Missions,  to 
what  is  specified  in  the  Bull  of  the  twenty-seventh  of 
September.  Then  he  placed  five  Hosts  upon  the 
Paten,  and  approaching  Laynez,  Le  Jay,  Brouet,  Co- 
dure,  and  Salmeron,  who  were  kneeHng  at  the  foot  of 
the  altar,  he  received  their  profession,  and  adminis- 
tered to  them  the  Holy  Communion."* 

"  During  the  seven  years  that  I  have  lived  in  the 
house  of  the  Jesuits,  what  have  I  seen  among  them  ? 


*  Cretineau-Joly. 


62 


The  Jesuits, 


A  most  laborious  and  frugal  life,  all  the  hours  of  which 
were  shared  between  the  care  they  bestowed  upon  us 
and  the  exercises  of  their  austere  profession.  This  can 
be  attested  by  thousands  of  men  who  have  been  their 
pupils  besides  me  ;  this  is  why  I  can  not  help  being 
astonished  at  seeing  them  accused  of  teaching  '  moral 
corruption.'  "  These  words  being  written  long  after  the 
foundation  of  the  Order,  I  cite  them  here,  in  refutation 
of  the  assertion  which  has  been  so  often  made,  that, 
though  the  Order  was  glonous  in  its  beginning,  it 
speedily  became  demoralized. 

Just  two  hundred  years  had  elapsed  since  the  Jesuits 
had  taken  the  first  place  in  the  ranks  of  the  cha.rnpions 
of  the  Church,  when  Voltaire  traced  thes^  linea,  in  the 
month  of  February.  They  do  honor  to  VoUaire,  and 
only  render  justice  to  the  Jesuits,  whom  calumny  then 
assailed  at  every  point. 

Voltaire  "  can  not  help  being  astonished  "  that  they 
should  calumniate  them.    He  is  easily  astonished. 

Those  who  are  accustomed  to  follow  the  current 
and  control  the  ardor  of  the  philosophical  or  poHtical 
passion,  in  a  slight  degree,  everywhere,  but  especially 
amongst  us,  should  rather  be  astonished  that  such  men 
could  be  for  one  instant  free  from  calumny. 

It  is  the  custom  among  their  accusers  to  place  the 
infancy  of  the  Institution  above  reproach,  and  to  salute 
its  founders  with  an  appearance  of  courteous  imparti- 
ality.   That  the  first  hours  of  its  existence  were  beau- 


The  First  Fathers. 


63 


tiful  and  pure  and  grand,  they  admit ;  only  the  sequel 
did  not  fulfill  the  promise  of  the  beginning,  they  affirm, 
and  they  lament  that  this  should  be  the  case. 

We  will  briefly  relate  the  history  of  these  latter  days, 
as  in  a  few  words  we  have  shown  the  simplicity  of  the 
facts  which  prepared  the  way  for  the  birth  of  the  Order 
and  accompanied  its  first  existence.  But  before 
pursuing  this  recital,  destined  to  take,  so  frequently, 
the  form  of  an  historical  discussion,  I  beg  permission 
to  remark  here  a  fact  which  may  be  viewed  from  an 
original  stand-point. 

Each  epoch  of  the  social  life  of  the  Jesuits  possesses, 
sometimes  for  one,  sometimes  for  another  of  its  sworn 
detractors,  a  little  of  the  satisfecit  accorded  to  the  in- 
nocence of  the  infancy  of  the  Society  ;  each  episode  of 
the  great  drama,  which  they  have  acted  as  an  Order, 
has  its  apologists  in  the  ranks  of  their  most  bitter 
adversaries,  and  one  is  perpetually  astonished  at  hear- 
ing such  a  Protestant,  such  a  Philosopher,  such  an 
Atheist,  even  defend  the  Society  of  Jesus,  apropos  of 
some  particular  accusation,  of  which  it  has  been  the 
victim,  so  much  so,  that  by  only  gathering  together 
these  pleadings,  these  amends  for  former  partiality, 
these  refutations  of  falsehoods  imposed  upon  the  cre- 
dulity of  prejudice,  which  are  brought  about  by  the  re- 
awakening of  the  old  Gallic  spirit,  a  panegyric  may  be 
woven,  of  a  most  fantastic  pattern,  it  is  true,  but  singu- 
larly curious  and  complete,  of  the  posterity  of  Loyola. 


64 


The  Jesuits. 


All  the  world  has  done  as  Voltaire  once  did.  All 
the  world,  after  having  freely  and  cheerfully  con- 
demned and  ridiculed  the  Jesuits  in  general,  has  sud- 
denly cried  out,  some  fine  day,  when  brought  face  to 
face  with  too  gross  a  falsehood,  or  some  accusation 
whose  absurdity  passes  all  Hmits  :  "  Stop  there  !  all 
that  is  true,  but  this  I  will  not  admit  ! " 

Now,  it  happens  that  "this"  being  "  that"  for  such 
a  critic,  and  reciprocally  for  such  an  other,  both  "this" 
and  "  that,"  which  is  to  say  all,  is  in  the  end  admitted. 

By  searching  carefully,  you  will  find  traces  of  apology 
even  in  the  archives  of  Port-Royal,  far  better  furnished 
as  they  are,  with  insults,  even  than  the  shop  of  the 
"  Encyclopedic."  If  so  much  may  be  said  of  those  who 
are  by  profession  the  assailants  of  the  Jesuits,  what 
may  be  said  of  the  people  of  the  world  ?  .... 

Here  I  hesitate,  and  dare  no  longer  show  myself 
equally  positive. 

In  dealing  with  the  indifferent,  it  is  ever  necessary 
to  be  prepared  for  an  element  still  more  unjust  than 
passion — something  of  shift  and  evasion,  and  ready 
disloyalty  which  is  politely  called  prudence,  but  whose 
true  name  is  poltroonery. 

Never  will  you  hear  an  indifferent  sage,  wise  only 
in  the  lowest  kind  of  wisdom,  his  own  interest,  defend 
the  Jesuits,  except  when  induced  thereto  for  the  sup- 
port of  some  particular  fact. 


The  First  Fathers. 


6s 


The  sages  of  this  sort  abandon  the  Jesuits  for  the 
ease  of  the  soul  and  the  "  safeguard  of  reUgion." 

They  are  acquainted  with  the  story  of  that  good 
mother  of  a  family  in  Russia,  who,  seeing  her  sled 
pursued  by  a  band  of  wolves  through  the  snow,  flung 
them  from  time  to  time  one  of  the  little  ones  to 
"  save  the  others."  They  have  been  told  that  this 
worthy  mother,  having  at  length  thrown  out  the  last, 
was  saved. 

It  is  not  true.  They  have  been  deceived.  I  affirm 
on  my  honor  that  she  was  devoured,  and  that  she  de- 
served it. 

The  wisdom  of  the  sages  of  whom  I  speak  is  called 
interest.  Interest  is  composed  of  a  little,  not  much, 
religion,  the  honesty  which  each  possesses,  I  sup- 
pose in  a  perfect  degree  ;  the  rank  each  occupies, 
the  fortune  enjoyed  by  each ;  and  of  existence,  to 
which  all  naturally  cling. 

The  wolves  are  in  pursuit  of  all  this,  among  us  as 
in  Russia,  and  they  coming  at  full  speed. 

If  the  Jesuits  are  thrown  to  the  wolves,  there  still 
remain  religion,  honesty,  rank,  and  fortune,  and  now 
if  religion  must  be  sacrificed,  it  will  leave  behind  hon- 
esty, which  is  sufficient  for  life,  with  rank  and  fortune. 
.  ...  If  the  wolves  attack  honesty  ! 

But  it  is  so  very  vague  at  best,  what  does  one 
understand  by  honesty  ?    There  are  so  many  kinds  ! 

And  it  is  essential  to  cajole  the  wolves. 
5 


66 


The  Jesuits, 


Rank,  for  example  !  Ah !  that  is  serious  !  It  is 
time  to  defend  one's  self. 

Men  defend  their  rank  if  they  can  ! 

And  they  will  die  sooner  than  abandon  fortune  ! 

And  as  it  will  happen,  they  will  die  ! 

They  will  die  because  of  the  first  concession  made, 
which  has  encouraged  the  wolves. 

For  the  sake  of  the  indifferent,  however,  as  well  as 
for  the  believers,  and  even  the  Atheists,  let  us  see 
what  a  Jesuit  really  is. 

He  isia  Religious. 

And  what  is  a  Religious  ? 

He  is  a  man,  who,  to  unite  himself  more  closely 
to  God,  accomplishes  of  his  own  free  will  certain 
sacrifices,  accepts  voluntarily  certain  duties  deter- 
mined by  a  rule,  and  assured  by  vows  which  bestow 
the  solemn  approbation  of  an  authority,  admitted  by 
the  law  of  CathoHc  countries,  and  which  is  known  as 
the  Church. 

From  a  purely  human  point  of  view,  what  is  more 
legitimate  ?  "What  use,  more  manifestly  lawful,  can  a 
citizen  make  of  his  liberty  ?  Under  what  pretext,  by 
what  right,  shall  the  exercise  of  this  liberty  be  hin- 
dered or  restrained  ? 

If  it  appear  to  you  useful  and  proper  to  seek  to  ac- 
cumulate the  goods  of  the  earth,  it  is  your  right  to  do 
so ;  if  it  please  me  to  abandon  them^  it  is  equally  my 
right  to  do  so. 


The  First  Fathers, 


67 


It  is  yonr  right,  if  it  seem  to  you  useful  and  proper, 
to  found  a  family ;  but  if  I  determine  to  abandon  these 
joys  of  the  hearth,  to  devote  myself  to  God  and  to 
mankind,  my  right  is  equal  to  yours. 

If  it  seem  useful  and  proper  to  you  to  retain  your 
entire  independence,  it  is  permitted  ;  but  if  I  fear  so 
much  liberty,  and  wish  to  limit  it,  is  it  prohibited  ? 

No,  unquestionably  not,  except  by  the  exercise  of  a 
tyranny  at  once  so  imbecile  and  so  odious,  that  in  order 
to  gather  any  examples  of  it,  one  is  obliged  to  peruse  the 
worst  soiled  pages  of  the  foulest  volume  in  our  annals. 

Thus  speaks  good  common  sense,  thus  reason 
teaches,  faith  indorses,  and  the  Church  approves. 

And  what  says  history  ? 

Does  she  deny  that  modern  life  has  sprung  from 
Christ  ? 

No.  History  shows  us  the  first  Christians  of  Jeru- 
salem laying  down  their  worldly  goods  at  the  feet  of 
the  Apostles,  to  live  in  common,  in  poverty  ;  the  des- 
erts of  Egypt  peopled  by  solitaries  ;  the  East  sancti- 
fied by  the  holy  men  of  the  desert ;  the  West,  by  the 
sons  of  Augustine,  Bruno,  Benedict,  and  Dominic,  fa- 
thers of  those  great  famiHes  of  laborers  whose  work 
fenlightened  Europe  ;  who  civihzed  barbarism  ;  taught 
agriculture ;  guarded  the  treasure  of  literature,  and 
revived  the  arts ;  heaping  all  these  benefits  upon  a 
world  which,  in  return,  has  shown  them  the  scorn  of 
its  ignorance,  and  the  hatred  of  its  ingratitude. 


68 


TJie  Jesuits. 


In  point  of  being  a  Religious,  the  Jesuit  is  neither  a 
novelty  nor  a  monstrosity.  There  have  been  Rehgious 
before  him. 

But  it  is  urged  He  is  a  Religious,  stii  gefieris,  hav- 
ing but  one  special  end,  a  manner  of  living  that  is 
peculiarly  his  own ;  tendencies,  obligations,  and  cus- 
toms which  distinguish  him  from  all  other  Religious." 

To  be  sure,  and  why  not  !  He  is  a  Jesuit,  and  not 
a  Carthusian,  a  Benedictine,  nor  a  Franciscan.  Just 
as  an  artilleryman  is  a  soldier,  a  cuirassier  also,  and 
a  hussar  the  same,  although  the  cuirassier  is  not  a 
hussar,  nor  the  hussar  an  artilleryman,  nor  the  artil- 
leryman a  cuirassier. 

The  Carthusian  prays  in  his  solitude  for  the  world 
he  has  quitted ;  the  Trappist  sanctifies  by  his  pen- 
ance the  noble  and  severe  labor  of  the  field  ;  the 
Benedictine  consumes  his  life  in  the  arid  researches  of 
science  ;  the  Jesuits  go  beyond  the  seas,  converting 
to  civilization  the  barbarous  tribes  of  Asia  and  Africa, 
the  savages  of  America  and  Oceanica ;  or  again,  with 
no  less  bravery,  struggle  in  Europe  for  truth  against 
error,  for  the  freedom  of  conscience  against  the  des- 
potism of  men  and  the  tyranny  of  passion.  And  is  this 
evil? 

The  Society  of  Jesus  has  never  denied  that  it  has  one 
sole  end  in  view. 

Its  glory  is  to  have  been  instituted  for  a  special  and 


The  First  Fathers. 


69 


well-defined  end  ;  it  is  a  sacred  battalion,  or  it  is 
nothing.    This  is  its  boast. 

We  have  seen,  beginning  from  the  sixteenth  century, 
a  terrible  subversion  of  ideas ; '  the  spirit  of  revolt 
sweeping  over  the  world  like  a  violent  wind,  and  hav- 
ing assailed  the  Church,  pre'sently  overthrowing  the 
political  institutions,  and  even  the  foundations  of 
society. 

These  awful  storms,  whose  consequences  we  still  feel, 
have  celebrated  names  in  history — Protestantism,  Jan- 
senism, Philosophy,  and  the  Revolution. 

Luther,  armed  with  the  mutilated  Bible,  arises 
against  the  Church,  and  presents  to  the  astonished 
world  the  spectacle  of  a  triumph  as  rapid  as  it  is  un- 
fortunate, improbable  as  an  ugly  dream.  But  Luther 
finds  the  Jesuits  opposed  to  him,  and  he  fails  of 
victory. 

Jansenius  disguises,  but  poorly,  in  the  pages  of  a 
spurious  Saint  Augustine,  the  first  workings  of  his 
false  and  illegitimate  Protestantism.  The  Jesuits  close 
that  route  against  him  ;  he  can  not  pass. 

The  philosophers  of  the  eighteenth  century  tear  up 
the  Bible,  deny  tradition,  and  pretend  to  "  crush  the 
Church,"  The  Jesuits  come  forward  to  the  com- 
bat They  fall,  betrayed  by  the  royal  authority 

which  they  defended,  but  the  earth  trembles  beneath 
their  fall ;  royal  authority  has  worked  its  own  ruin,  and 
the  God  whose  existence  was  denied,  seems  to  turn 


70 


The  Jesuits. 


away  from  the  sight  of  the  queen  of  nations  wallowing 
in  the  bloody  mire  of  a  Saturnalia  that  dishonors 
history. 

Is  God  vanquished,  however?  No.  Is  the  Church 
crushed  ?    No.    One  is  as  impossible  as  the  other. 

But  the  Jesuits  ?  Ah  !  unquestionably  the  Jesuits 
can  die  ;  they  possess  neither  the  eternity  of  God  nor 
the  immortality  of  the  Church  in  time. 

But  they  live  !  Would  you  have  a  proof?  Count 
their  enemies. 

Would  so  much  hate  be  roused  by  anything  which 
exists  only  in  the  tomb  ? 

Now,  I  understand  this  hate,  and  the  men  it 
animates.  It  is  natural,  it  is  almost  just  that  the 
Protestants  should  hate  the  Jesuits  ;  that  this  aversion 
should  be  shared  by  the  obscure  remnant  of  Jansen- 
ism flung  disabled  into  a  corner,  and  by  the  worthy 
prosperity  of  the  philosophers  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  above  all,  by  the  unhappy  throng  of  perpetually 
deceived  sufferers  for  whom  the  rack  is  always  kept  in 
readiness  by  the  industry  of  the  tribunes  ;  but  the 
others  ? 

What  of  the  immense  majority  of  those  who,  among 
us,  are  neither  Protestants,  nor  Jansenists,  nor  Philoso- 
phers, nor  tribunes,  nor  the  prey  of  tribunes  ? 

Will  these  never  be  brought  to  comprehend  that  we 
live  in  a  time  when  truth,  carried  along  in  its  sled,  can 


The'  First  Fathers. 


71 


afford  to  throw  nothing  to  the  wolf,  neither  God,  nor 
the  Church,  nor  even  the  Jesuits,  because  the  wolf 
who  has  devoured,  will  devour ! 

The  Jesuits,  however,  ask  favor  from  none.  Intrepid 
in  the  consciousness  of  their  duty,  they  render  reso- 
lutely to  Ccxsar  that  which  is  Caesar's,  and  to  God  that 
which  is  God's. 

What  think  you  could  terrify  them,  born  to  encounter 
danger — the  sons  of  promised  persecution  ? 

They  but  live  to  combat,  and  death  dissolves  all 
vows,  even  that  of  heroism. 

And  it  is  because  they  do  not  fear  to  die,  that  they 
will  live. 

If  a  proof  were  needed  of  the  necessity  of  the  work 
of  Ignatius,  it  would  be  superabundantly  found  in  the 
rapidity  of  its  first  development.  The  Company  of 
Jesus  numbered  ten  at  the  time  of  the  Bull  of  their 
institution,  which  limited  their  number  to  sixty,  and 
hardly  had  a  few  months  flown  by,  when  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  was  obliged  to  remove  this  restriction — last  ves- 
tige of  the  "prejudicial"  repugnances  of  Cardinal 
Guiddiccioni. 

The  limited  plan  of  this  book  will  not  permit  us  to 
render  sufficient  homage  to  the  sainted  career  of  these 
first  Jesuits — all  singularly  eloquent  orators,  excep- 
tional professors,  accomplished  theologians,  remark- 
able writers,  ardent  apostles  of  charity,  and  powerful 


72 


The  Jesuits. 


defenders  of  truth  ;  hardly  can  we  follow  each  of  them, 
with  a  glance  along  his  route,  before  entering  with  the 
Society  upon  the  general  current  of  events.  Loyola, 
center  and  soul  of  the  Society,  is  almost  entirely  lost 
sight  of,  as  far  as  personal  works  are  concerned,  shortly 
after  his  exaltation.  His  action  is  immense,  but  lost 
in  the  common  movement  which  it  directs.  He 
had  said  in  his  "  Constitutions,"  the  General  shall 
be  chosen  neither  "to  preach"  nor  ''gain  recruits," 
but  "  to  govern." 

James  Laynez,  whose  admirable  mind  seems  to  have 
shared  most  intimately,  with  Lefevre  and  Xavier,  the 
confidence  of  Loyola,  of  whom  he  was,  it  is  said,  the 
coadjutor  at  the  time  of  the  definite  compiling  of  the 
Rule,  was  first  sent  to  Venice,  where  the  struggle  begun 
by  him  against  heresy  was  attended  with  such  success, 
that  the  throngs  slept  at  the  doors  of  the  churches  in 
order  not  to  miss  his  preaching.  When  he  had  van- 
quished error  at  Venice,  he  achieved  the  same  ora- 
torical triumphs  at  Padua  and  Brescia. 

I  was  once  obliged  to  seek,  for  some  time,  the  name 
of  Laynez,  badly  spelt,  in  a  historical  "  Dictionnaire," 
considered  everywhere  most  respectable,  and  recom- 
mended to  the  use  of  youth,  and  at  length  found  it 
beneath  the  name  of  the  singer  Lais,  to  whom  a  very 
fine  article  was  devoted.  Two  lines  only  were  given 
to  Laynez.  He  had  been,  however,  one  of  the 
lights  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  before  distinguishing 


The  First  Fathers. 


73 


himself  at  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy,  and  the  noble  hu- 
mility which  had  prompted  him  to  refuse  a  cardinal's 
hat,  the  object  of  so  much  passionate  ambition,  should, 
perhaps,  have  merited  mention. 

Peter  Lef evre  followed  Ortoz,  the  Ambassador  of 
Charles  V^.,  who  was  returning  to  his  master,  and  the 
disputants  of  Germany  constantly  evaded  all  encounter 
with  him,  so  great  was  the  reputation  for  eloquence  and 
science  which  had  preceded  him.  He  accomplished, 
nevertheless,  great  work,  crowned  by  a  considerable 
result,  since  it  sufficed  to  strengthen  in  the  faith  the 
Catholics,  startled  and  tormented  by  the  contagion 
which  surrounded  them  on  all  sides.  He  was  the 
preacher  of  the  court  of  Ratisbon,  where  numerous 
conversions  attended  his  words ;  he  continued  his 
apostolate  in  Spain,  and  returning  to  the  borders  of  the 
Rhine,  there .  professed  Holy  Scriptures  at  Mayence, 
with  a  brilliancy  and  an  authority  which  gained  over 
Herman  de  Wiede,  the  Archbishop  Elector  of  Cologne, 
whose  imminent  desertion  brought  about  that  of  his 
flock.  Marvelous  effect  of  eloquent  charity  !  With  the 
flock  Lefevre  saved  the  pastor. 

But  hardly  has  he  gained  this  double  victory,  than 
he  sets  sail  for  Portugal ;  traverses  anew  the  entire 
Peninsula,  and  founds  the  College  of  Valladolid.  The 
letter  which  summoned  him  to  the  Council  of  Trent 
found  him  stricken  with  a  fever  in  the  midst  of  his 
work.    "  It  is  not  necessary#to  live,"  he  exclaims,  full 


74 


The  Jesuits. 


of  the  mot?ier-thought  of  his  Order,  "  but  it  is  necessary 
to  obey."  And  he  sets  out,  notwithstanding  the  sup- 
plications of  his  pupils,  never  pausing  until  he  reaches 
the  arms  of  Ignatius  at  Rome,  where  he  arrives,  joy- 
fully, but  to  die. 

Le  Jay  and  Bobadilla  had  replaced  him  in  Germany, 
where  both,  imitating  the  humiHty  of  Laynez,  should 
refuse  the  honor  of  an  episcopate.  It  was  Le  Jay  who 
responded  to  the  Lutherans  when  they  threatened  to 
drown  him  in  the  Danube,  "What  matters  it  whether 
one  get  to  heaven  by  earth  or  water  ?  " 

Salmeron,  the  Benjamin  of  the  affiUated  of  Mont- 
matre,  made  equal  headway  against  the  invasions  of 
Protestantism.  After  the  death  of  Lef^vre,  he  was 
chosen,  with  Laynez,  in  the  quality  of  theologian  of  the 
Pope,  to  assist  at  the  discussions  of  that  Council,  where 
the  Roman  Church  was  to  prove  herself  stronger  and 
as  full  of  vitality  as  ever.* 

Le  Jay  occupied  therein  an  equal  place  as  the  theo- 
logian of  the  Archbishop  of  Augsbourg.  Hardly  in 
existence,  the  Society  already  placed  her  humble  sons 
among  the  Princes  of  the  Church,  and  they  proved 
themselves  worthy  of  this  distinction,  for  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Modena  writes :  "  The  Fathers  Salmeron 
and  Laynez  have  spoken  on  the  Eucharist  with  such 


*  "  History  of  the  Society,"- Ad.  Archier,  p.  93. 


The  First  Fathers. 


75 


eloquence  that  I  have  esteemed  myself  happy  to  be 
near  such  learned  and  holy  fathers." 

The  book  which  should  contain  only  the  history  of 
the  first  ten  Jesuits  would  be  most  beautiful,  and  touch 
upon  all  the  great  ecclesiastical  events  of  that  portion 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  even  though  Francis  Xavier 
should  not  be  spoken  of  therein. 

On  Francis  Xavier  alone  might  be  written  a  poem 
which  would  be  a  glowing  Epic  of  Charity ;  but  our 
space  will  not  allow  us  to  do  more  than  briefly  sketch 
this  marvelous  life. 

From  the  beginning,  or  rather  before  even  the 
Order  was  founded,  Xavier  and  Rodriquez  had  been 
appealed  to  by  John  III.,  of  Braganga,  to  carry  the 
knowledge  of  the  Gospel  beyond  the  ocean. 

We  remember  the  words  addressed  to  Xavier  by 
Ignatius,  speaking  of  the  perils  and  the  joys  of  mis- 
sionaries :  "  Xavier,  thine  eye  sparkles." 

The  apostolic  vocation  of  the  young  student  of  the 
University  of  Paris  had  only  increased  since  that  time. 
He  received  with  enthusiasm  the  order  of  his  depart- 
ure, and  would  have  set  out  on  his  route  without  even 
the  necessary  garments  if  Loyola  had  not  placed  his 
own  mande  on  his  shoulders. 

Although  a  most  learned  Doctor,  he  had  retained 
all  the  impetuosity  of  childhood. 

This  alliance  of  naive  vivacity  and  great  knowledge 
invested  him  with  a  peculiar  charm,  and  there  appeared 


76 


The  Jesuits. 


to  emanate  from  him  an  indescribable  something 
which  was  above  nature.  John  of  Braganga  would 
have  retained  him  in  the  Court  of  Portugal,  where 
all  hearts  were  drawn  to  God  by  the  flood  of  love 
which  fell  from  the  lips  of  this  young  apostle  ;  but  it 
was  neither  for  Princes  nor  courtiers  that  he  designed 
the  treasures  of  his  speech. 

He  set  sail  on  a  vessel  of  the  Indian  fleet  five 
months  after  the  signature  of  the  Bull,  on  the  7th  of 
April,  1540.  The  Fathers  Camerino  and  Mansella 
accompanied  him.  He  arrived  in  the  harbor  of  Goa 
in  the  month  of  May  of  the  following  year,  after  a 
long  and  dangerous  passage,  during  which  he  had 
•shown  an  example  of  piety,  courage,  and  gayety  to  all. 
It  was  during  this  voyage  that  he  first  gained  the  sur- 
name of  the  "'Holy  Father,"  by  which  Mohammedans 
and  idolaters,  as  well  as  Christians,  henceforth  dis- 
tinguished him. 

The  quahty  of  Christian,  itself  so  glorious  and 
beautiful,  was  not  a  condition  favorable  to  gaining 
the  confidence  of  these  unfortunate  and  conquered 
peoples.  Under  the  name  of  Christian,  these  un- 
happy beings  had  seen  only  the  avaricious  traffickers, 
cruel  and  dissolute  men,  steeped  in  vice,  and,  it  may 
be  added,  loaded  with  crime. 

The  oppression  which  these  Portuguese  merchants 
exercised  throughout  the  Indies  had  attained  a 
hideous  excess,  and  it  seemed  as  if  Europe  had  ex- 


The  First  Fathers. 


77 


tended  her  conquests  to  the  confines  of  the  earth 
only  to  carry  further  the  leprosy  of  her  sordid  and 
corrupt  avarice. 

Xavier  preached  to  the  merchants  before  preaching 
to  the  natives,  and  he  said  to  them  :  "  How  can  you 
expect  that  I  should  advise,  in  the  name  of  God, 
those  who  have  no  other  fault  than  their  blindness,  to 
become  what  you  are,  loaded  with  such  iniquity  ?  " 

There  were,  assuredly,  no  people  more  difficult  to 
convert  than  these  assemblages  of  greedy  adventu- 
rers whom  our  older  civilizations  had  sent  four  hundred 
years  ago  to  seek  for  fortune  throughout  the  Indies  and 
the  New  World ;  and  among  these  adventurers,  those 
of  the  Peninsula,  Spanish  as  well  as  Portuguese,  had 
gained  the  worst  renown.  But  there  was  an  influence 
so  irresistible  in  the  speech  of  Xavier,  a  persuasion 
so  powerful  and  overwhelming  arose  from  the  depths 
of  his  heart  that  the  contractors  of  Goa,  irritated  at 
first  by  his  boldness,  finished  by  capitulating.  To 
convert  the  inmates  of  a  Portuguese  counting-house 
was  more  difficult  (and  so  his  contemporaries  deemed 
it)  than  to  subjugate  to  the  Faith  the  whole  of  India. 

As  soon  as  Xavier  had  surmounted  this  obstacle,  all 
others  seemed  to  him  easy  to  overcome,  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  priests  of  Sirah  themselves,  he  could  smile 
and  say :  "I  have  vanquished,  with  the  help  of  God, 
the  merchants  of  Goa." 

In  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  he  had  reached 


78 


The  Jesuits. 


Cape  Comorin,  and  won  over  the  Paravas  by  a  mira- 
cle.  A  dying  woman  was  cured  by  only  touching  the 
crucifix,  and  thousands  of  natives  crowded  about  him, 
"  observing  his  signs,"  guessing  his  unknown  lan- 
guage. He  had  predicted  the  magic  of  the  cross  ;  he 
witnessed  its  prodigies  ;  his  crucifix  spoke  for  him  all 
the  time  tha^he  was  learning  the  Malabar  language, 
and  even  in  the  days  when  he  was  acquainted  with  it, 
when  the  fatigue  of  incessant  preaching  overcame  him, 
he  was  accustomed  to  ring  his  famous  bell  with  one 
hand,  and  in  the  other  held  aloft  the  image  of  the  dy- 
ing Redeemer,  and  entire  villages  hastened  to  bend 
their  heads  to  the  waters  of  baptism. 

It  often  happened — so  great  was  his  fatigue — that 
he  was  unable  to  raise  his  arms  to  pour  the  saving 
waters  on  the  brows  of  the  last  flock  of  catechumens 
who  would  come  at  the  close  of  his  glorious  day's 
work. 

And  his  heart  was  overwhelmed  with  torrents  of  joy, 
and  a  canticle  of  gladness  arose  from  him  ;  he  suffered 
cold,  heat,  hunger,  and  sickness ;  his  naked  feet  bled 
from  the  thorns  of  the  road,  but  he  complained  of 
nothing,  or  rather  seemed  to  enjoy  all  ;,he  went  on  his 
way,  indefatigable  and  invulnerable ;  still  on  earth,  he 
walked  already  in  heaven. 

The  night,  in  place  of  reposing,  he  consumes  in 
preparing  his  aids  to  instruct  those  who  are  well  dis- 
posed, and  often  his  simple  auditory  relapse  into  dead 


The  First  Fathers. 


79 


silence ;  they  do  not  stir ;  they  hold  their  very  breath, 
while  exchanging  all  around  a  sign  which  says  :  "  Do 
not  wake  him." 

It  is  when  the  "  Holy  Father,"  conquered  by  excess- 
ive fatigue,  had  closed  his  eyes  in  spite  of  himself, 
that  his  waiting  class,  this  class  of  humble  savages  who 
would  study  how  to  be  martyrs,  prolong  as  much  as 
they  can  these  furtive  minutes  during  which  sleep  robs 
them  of  the  attention  of  their  beloved  master. 

So  much  respect  and  ardent  admiration  had  he 
aroused,  that  one  of  his  principal  efforts  was  to  destroy 
among  the  children  the  idea  that  he  was  a  God. 

Meanwhile,  the  success  of  his  mission  augmented 
with  marvelous  rapidity.  In  two  years  the  harvest  of 
auxiliaries  that  he  has  sown,  almost  reaches  maturity. 
He  has  founded  a  seminary  at  Goa,  his  general  head- 
quarters ;  his  first  priests  are  approaching  ordination ; 
he  can  attempt  to-day  what  yesterday  seemed  impos- 
sible ;  in  truth,  behold  him  penetrating  further,  always 
further;  he  is  no  longer  alone.  In  some  weeks  he 
baptized  in  Travancor  ten-thousand  persons  with  his 
own  hand. 

"  You  will  not  strike,"  Ignatius  had  said. 

Xavier  put  the  armed  troops  to  flight  by  means  of 
the  crucifix,  and  when  an  idolatrous  village  obstinately 
refuses  to  Hsten  to  his  preaching,  he  asks  of  God  the 
power  to  raise  Lazarus,  and  Lazarus  is  raised  from  the 
dead. 


8o 


The  Jesuits. 


All  Travancor  is  converted  at  this  miracle,  stated  in 
the  Acts  of  the  canonization  of  St.  Francis  Xavier. 

Ignatius  was  at  Rome  when  he  received  the  letter  of 
his  tenderly  cherished  son,  announcing  to  him  his  tri- 
umphs, and  asking  for  soldiers  to  retain  these  victories. 

Ignatius  hastens  to  accede  to  his  request.  The  re- 
cruits are  embarked  at  Lisbon,  but  Xavier  does  not 
wait  for  their  coming ;  he  has  set  off  in  a  new  direc- 
tion ;  follow  step  by  step  the  invasion  of  Grace ;  be- 
hold Xavier  in.  the  isle  of  Wanar,  then  at  Meliapour, 
he  arrives  at  Malacca,  besieged  by  the  king  of  Achim, 

and  his  presence  is  equal  to  that  of  an  army  

India  is  his. 

India  no  longer  suffices  him ;  a  mysterious  finger 
directs  him  to  Japan ;  he  goes  thither,  accompanied  by 
three  missionaries.  It  is  now  nine  years  since  he  has 
quitted  Europe,  and  he  has  not  allowed  himself  the  re- 
pose of  a  single  day. 

His  arrival  in  India  had  been  modest  and  unassum- 
ing ;  at  Japan,  the  vessel  which  carried  him,  landed  at 
Friardo,  where  it  was  saluted  by  all  the  ordnance  of 
the  harbor.  However,  this  proved  there  no  certain 
augury  of  success.  The  obstacles,  it  is  true,  were  not 
revealed  at  first,  for  Xavier  was  allowed  to  reach  the 
capital  and  preach  there  in  peace,  but  the  strange  and 
extravagant  character,  and  the  thoroughly  corrupt 
manners  of  the  Meaquins  disconcerted  for  a  time  the 
man  whom  nothing  had  ever  stopped  in  his  career ; 


The  First  Fathers, 


8i 


he  regrets  having  left  India,  and  it  needs  all  the 
force  of  his  resignation  to  prosecute  a  work  which  he 
deems  impossible.  He  redoubles  his  efforts.  At 
length  God,  who  has  heard  his  prayers,  measures  the 
recompense  by  the  sacrifice.  After  two  years  of  an- 
guish, which  cost  him  his  life,  Xavier  is  master  of  Japan. 

Does  he  pause  at  length  ?  No,  he  will  never  pause. 
He  only  changes  his  route.  He  has  turned  his  eyes  in 
the  direction  of  the  mighty  and  unknown  land — China. 
Before  undertaking  this  gigantic  campaign,  he  returns 
again  to  Goa,  where  he  receives  the  assurance  that 
India  counts  half  a  million  of  Christians.  "  Glory  to 
God !  the  harvest  here  is  great,  let  us  go  to  sow  the 
seed  in  other  fields."    And  he  embarks  for  China. 

But  God  has  measured  the  task,  and  marked  the 
repose  of  this  mighty  apostle,  fashioned  on  the  model 
of  those  who  first  enlightened  the  world.  The  passage 
proves  most  unfortunate. 

At  length  the  strength  of  Xavier,  never  accustomed 
to  spare  himself,  gives  out.  After  terrible  suffering, 
they  land  him  dying  on  a  shore  which  is  not  that  of 
China.  His  hour  has  come  ;  his  companions  gather 
around  him  weeping ;  he  presses  his  crucifix  to  his 
breast,  smiles,  and  dies,  repeating  the  last  verse  of  the 
Canticle  of  Saint  Ambrose  :  "//^  te  Dofnine^  speravi ; 
non  confundar  in  aeiurnum. 

*  In  Thee,  Lord,  have  I  hoped  ;  let  me  not  be  confounded 
forever. 

6 


82 


The  Jesuits. 


He  had  attained  the  age  of  45  years,  twelve  of 
which  had  been  consumed  in  his  apostleship.  His 
memory  is  honored- in  the  Church  among  those  of  the 
greatest  saints. 

Of  all  the  missions  of  Francis  Xavier,  the  most 
fruitful  in  martyrs  was  that  of  Japan,  where  thousands 
of  faithful  natives  and  nearly  one  hundred  Jesuit 
Fathers  confessed  the  faith  in  torture. 

Ignatius  lived  four  years  after  the  death  of  Xavier. 
There  remained  now  only  one  of  the  three  students  of 
the  College  of  Saint  Barbara.  He  shed  tears  of  sor- 
rowful joy  upon  learning  of  the  happy  end  of  his  friend 
and  brother. 

His  work  had  assumed  the  proportions  of  an  em- 
pire. To  speak  here  of  only  his  remote  conquests  : 
three  years  before  the  death  of  Xavier,  and  at  the 
time  when  the  latter  carried  the  light  of  faith  to  Japan, 
six  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  landed  on  the 
shores  of  Brazil,  and  strove  there  so  effectually  that 
their  popularity  sufficed  to  counterbalance  the  hatred 
aroused  by  Portuguese  commerce.  Placed  as  media- 
tors between  two  barbarous  hordes — one  civiHzed, 
the  other  savage — the  Fathers  experienced  less  dif- 
ficulty with  the  devourers  of  human  flesh  than  with 
the  hungry  seekers  after  gold,  for  they  could  put  an  end 
to  the  atrocious  festivals  of  the  cannibals,  but  could 
not  quench  the  awful  thirst  of  riche's  which  devoured 
the  Europeans. 

% 


The  First  Fathers. 


83 


The  Portuguese  colony  of  San  Salvador  ruled  by 
canon  law ;  but  the  companions  of  the  noble  and 
learned  Father  Anchita  were  the  masters  by  love,  and 
the  rulers  by  law  were  more  than  once  obliged  to  take 
refuge  as  trembling  supphants  behind  these  sons  of 
charity  who  never  refused  them  their  protection. 

Later,  the  Portuguese  metropolis  shall  take  its 
revenge  for  so  many  benefits  showered  upon  its 
colonies,  for  it  shall  be  at  Lisbon  that  the  killer  of 
Fathers  (matador  dos  Padres),  Sebastian  de  Pombal, 
the  philosopher  of  the  eighteenth  century,  will  lock  his 
dungeons  and  light  his  funeral  piles  ! 

In  1553,  the  preponderance  of  the  Society  was  such 
in  South  America  that  Ignatius  thought  fit  to  create 
there  a  Province,  as  he  had  already  made  for  the 
extreme  East  the  Province  of  the  Indies. 

At  the  same  time  Ignatius  sent  a  holy  ambassador 
to  Fez  and  to  Morocco  to  negotiate  there  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  slaves. 

Ah  !  hate  was  now  fully  aroused,  as  it  saw  the  career 
of  the  Jesuits  shaping  itself  in  all  its  detested  grandeur. 

Other  Jesuits  penetrated  into  Ethiopia,  and  even  as 
far  as  Congo,  there  to  seek  or  make  Christians. 

For  a  time  the  kings  of  Abyssinia  were  Catholic,  ^ 
but  Protestant  missionaries  came,  and  the  flood  of 
idolatry  remounted. 

Go>i  defend  us  from  misjudging  the  conscience  of 
Protestants  in  general.  We  only  remark  the  obstacles 


84 


The  Jesuits, 


which  they  have  always  placed  in  the  way  of  the  prop- 
agation of  the  true  Faith,  and  the  inutility  of  their 
efforts  to  copy  the  Catholic  missions,  which  they  have 
everywhere  essayed,  and  which  have  almost  every- 
where proved  unsuccessful,  notwithstanding  the  im- 
mense material  sources  at  their  command. 

The  apostles  make  a  vow  of  poverty,  and  they  suc- 
ceed ;  the  Protestant  Church  possesses  millions,  and 
it  fails. 

Ignatius  was  now  more  than  sixty  years  of  age. 
Notwithstanding  the  care  which  he  took  to  conceal  his 
life,  he.  was  among  the  most  illustrious  of  his  time. 
From  the  depths  of  his  cell  he  had  exercised  an  im- 
mense influence  on  passing  events,  and  though  he 
had  assisted  in  person  neither  at  the  Council  of  Trent 
nor  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy ;  though  his  foot  had 
never  crossed  the  threshold  of  the  palaces  of  princes, 
his  spirit  had  everywhere  made  itself  felt  as  well  in 
the  public  assemblages,  where  sound  the  thunders  of 
eloquence,  as  in  the  close  retreats,  where  is  murmured 
the  mysterious  language  of  the  policies  of  kings. 

He  had  accomplished  even  more  than  he  had  prom- 
ised, and  the  outrages  with  which  his  enemies  assailed 
him  on  all  sides,  rendered  him  justice  in  proclaiming 
him  the  veritable  stumbling  block  in  the  way  of  the 
Reformation. 

One  time  he  wished  the  repose  of  a  workman  who 
had  terminated  his  day's  labor. 


The  First  Fathers. 


85 


But  those  who  venerated  him,  reminded  him,  not 
without  some  severity,  that  for  him  who  has  pledged 
his  Hfe,  there  is  no  repose  elsewhere  than  in  the  tomb. 

He  obeyed.    He  remained  and  died  General  of  the 
Order,  on  the  thirty-first  of  July,  1536. 

In  his  life-time  he  never  said :  "  I  have  done,"  but 
"  I  have  seen."  He  had  seen  heresy,  if  not  utterly 
vanquished,  at  least  arrested  in  its  formidable  progress, 
and  he  saw  infidel  countries  gain  to  the  Faith  more 
souls  than  had  been  drawn  away  from  her  fold  by  all 
the  false  prophets,  with  which  this  century,  agitated 
by  so  many  and  such  strange  convulsions,  abounded. 

He  had  seen  reform,  the  true  Catholic  reform  intro- 
duced by  the  Church  throughout  all  her  branches, 
already  producing  admirable  results. 

To  understand  the  part  which  he  had  taken  in  the  • 
accomplishment  of  these  great  things,  one  must  not 
look  to  him  nor  to  his  religious  posterity.  That  would 
be  to  evoke  a  suspected  testimony. 

If  one  would  be  duly  informed,  he  must  turn  to  the 
records  of  the  testimony  contained  in  the  "  mountain 
of  documents  "  accumulated  by  passion  and  rancorous 
hate.  Here  the  invective  of  the  wounded  enemy 
glorifies  the  soldier  who  has  made  the  wound  ;  each 
outrage  brings  with  it  honor,  and  it  is  from  the  writings 
of  Protestants  that  Loyola  and  the  Jesuits  of  his  time 
take  their  letters  of  nobility. 

Twenty-two  years,  lacking  two  months,  after  the  morn- 


86  The  Jesuits. 

• 

ing  of  the  Assumption,  when  we  saw  the  poor  and  crip- 
pled student  climb  alone  the  steep  of  Montmartre,  at  the 
moment  when  Ignatius,  now  an  aged  man,  and  still  poor, 
but  no  longer  alone,  gave  up  to  God  his  great  mind 
and  pious  soul,  he  could  see,  with  the  clear  eye  of  a 
saint,  which  extends  over  the  earth,  thirty  houses, 
eighty  colleges,  upwards  of  one  thousand  Fathers,  and 
one  hundred  thousand  pupils,  bearing  the  mysterious 
sign  upon  their  .foreheads,  scattered  over  the  surface 
of  the  earth. 


III. 


A  GLANCE  AT  THE  MISSIONS. 

The  better  to  proceed  with  the  History  of  the 
Society  of  France,  we  will  briefly  finish  beforehand 
with  the  grand  movement  of  the  evangeUzation  of  re- 
mote countries,  splendidly  inaugurated  by  Francis 
Xavier,  continued  so  heroically  by  his  successors,  and 
which  shall  cease  only  with  the  life  of  the  Order. 

Xavier  had  died  without  passing  the  mysterious 
barrier  which  separated  China  from  the  rest  of  the 
universe. 

The  first  of  the  Jesuits  to  obtain  admission  was 
Melchior  Nunez,  who  traveled  thither  with  some  Portu- 
guese merchants,  in  the  year  1556. 

He  arrived  at  Canton,  that  enormous  city,  whose 
riches  filled  him  with  astonishment. 

Xavier  had  undoubtedly  preached  from  the  time  of 
his  arrival  in  pagan  lands,  but  Xavier  possessed  the 
gift  of  miracles.  Through  a  prudence  which  was  for 
a  long  time  imitated,  and  which  bore  its  fruits,  Father 
Melchior,  whose  greatest  fear  was  to  close,  by  any  pre- 
mature movement  on  his  part,  the  entrance  which  had 
been  extorted  from  such  zealous  vigilance,  abstained 

(87) 


88 


The  Jesuits. 


from  all  public  preaching.  The  laws  and  customs  of 
China  are  opposed  to  the  dissemination  of  intelligence 
among  the  people. 

In  1563,  five  Jesuits  accompanied  the  Portuguese 
ambassador  thither  and  observed  the  same  guarded 
line  of  action. 

Matthew  Ricci  was  the  first  to  penetrate  as  far  as  the 
court  of  Pekin,  and  not  only  breaks  this  regulation, 
but  furthered,  to  a  great  extent,  the  work  of  evangeliza- 
tion in  the  Celestial  Empire,  where  so  many  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Jesus  were  to  receive  the  palm  of  martyrdom. 

Ricci  was  the  pupil  of  Father  Valignani,  a  man  who 
was  the  universal  grammarian  of  the  languages  of  the 
far  East. 

The  history  of  the  education  and  the  pains  taken  by 
Valignani  to  prepare  his  youthful  apostles  for  the  con- 
quest of  martyrdom,  makes  one  of  the  most  curious  and, 
at  the  same  time,  most  touching  pages  that  can  be  read. 

The  Abi3e  Vertot  narrates,  in  his  "  History  of  the 
Order  of  Malta,"  an  old,  but  most  interesting  work, 
the  adventure  of  Dieudonnede  Gozon,  afterward  Grand 
Master  of  Rhodes,  who,  to  obtain  the  victory  over  a 
certain  monster  (dragon  or  serpent)  which  infested  the 
Isle,  constructed  a  figure  of  the  animal  and  accustomed 
his  pack  of  hounds  to  rush  upon  it.  Up  to  this  time, 
all  who  had  been  rash  enough  to  attack  the  monster 
had  been  devoured,  because  it  was  covered  with  scales 
which  afforded  it  a  complete  armor. 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions. 


89 


Its  hide  was  of  the  color  of  bronze  and  utterly  im- 
penetrable to  the  sword ;  but  the  ChevaHer  Dieudonnd 
had  observed  on  the  belly  of  the  dragon  a  vulnerable 
point ;  this  was  a  large  spot  of  a  yellow  hue,  and  he  ac- 
cordingly devised  a  stratagem  which  the  Abbe  Vertot 
is  right  in  pronouncing  ingenious. 

He  constructed  in  the  same  spot  upon  the  figure,  a 
hole  as  nearly  alike  in  form  and  dimensions  to  the  orig- 
inal as  possible.  This  he  closed  with  a  door,  which  he 
painted  exactly  the  shade  of  the  yellow  skin  on  the 
spot,  and  which  appeared  to  open  of  itself,  by  means 
of  a  weight.  When  all  was  complete,  the  Chevalier 
loosed  the  hounds,  having  previously  filled  the  inside 
of  the  figure  with  meat. 

The  pack,  as  may  be  imagined,  no  sooner  ap- 
proached the  pasteboard  dragon  than  they  scented 
the  food  and  rushed  at  the  yellow  door,  which,  at  first, 
resisted,  then  opened  and  allowed  the  dogs  to  obtain 
their  feast. 

For  an  entire  month  the  Chevalier  repeated  this  ex- 
ercise, so  that  the  pack  began  to  display  a  strong  inter- 
est for  the  indicated  spot  as  being  the  door  which 
guarded  their  meal. 

At  the  end  of  a  month,  the  ChevaHer  left  the  dogs  ' 
three  days  without  food,  and  then  led  them,  no  longer 
against  the  image,  but  to  an  encounter  with  the  mon- 
ster in  flesh  and  blood.    According  to  his  custom,  the 
dragon  vomited  forth  smoke  and  flames ;   but  the 


90 


The  Jesuits, 


dogs  were  not  to  be  frightened ;  they  were  in  search 
of  food. 

At  length,  the  monster  in  his  unwieldy  struggles  ex- 
posed the  familiar  spot,  and  the  dogs  recognizing  their 
yellow  door,  tore  a  passage  into  the  monster's  body. 

I  know  not  if  Father  Valignani,  previous  to  Vertot's 
relating  it,  was  aware  of  this  anecdote,  but  certainly 
his  plan  of  campaign,  so  laboriously  worked  out,  bears 
some  parallel  to  that  of  the  Chevalier  Dieudonne. 

For  the  former  also  trained  a  pack, »a  band  of 
heroes,  to  force  an  entrance  into  the  interior  of  a  mon- 
ster defended  by  impenetrable  scales — China  ;  that 
land  of  improbabilities  and  fantastical  novelties,  a 
solid  enigma,  so  well  screened  from  the  eager  curiosity 
of  the  universe,  that  imagination  pictures  her  famous 
wall  of  steel  as  guarding  enchanted  palaces  erected  by 
the  genii  of  poetic  romance. 

The  pack  of  Father  Valignani  were  hungry  with  the 
desire  of  saving  souls,  of  extending  civilization,  of 
spreading  knowledge,  of  spiritual  strife,  of  martyrdom. 

The  monster,  armed  to  the  teeth,  possessed  one  vul- 
nerable point :  was  marked  with  one  yellow  spot,  well 
concealed,  but  nevertheless  a  door  which  could  be 
forced. 

The  defect  in  the  Chinese  armor  was  a  childish 
thirst  for  information,  an  innate  curiosity,  and  an  odd 
but  subtle  aptness  for  all  pertaining  to  the  study  of 
Mathematics,  Astronomy,  Physic,  or  even  Philosophy. 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions. 


91 


The  entire  life  of  Father  Valignani,  preparer  of 
apostles,  as  Warwick  was  creator  of  kings,  had  been 
spent  before  this  closed  door,  devising  for  others  the 
means  of  opening  it,  and  not  only  that,  but  end'^avor- 
ing  also  to  find  some  way  of  establishing  firmly  within 
the  open  door  those  who  should  once  have  procured 
admittance. 

And  where  else  beside  in  the  institution  of  the 
Jesuits,  so  original  in  its  grandeur,  is  there  shown  a 
similar  appropriation  of  aptitude  ? 

In  our  own  day,  Charles  Fourier,  a  man  of  incon- 
testable talent,  but  still-born,  or  nearly  so,  as  an  influ- 
ence, because  he  forgot  God  and  the  law  of  God,  in 
the  fabrication  of  an  ingenious  toy  which  he  called  a 
phalanstery,  beHeved  himself  to  have  invented  the 
rational  culture  of  vocations,  from  the  stand-point  of 
social  utility. 

Unquestionably  he  had  never  read  St.  Ignatius ; 
him  who  lost  no  precious  time  in  balancing  card- 
houses  of  systems,  but  stole  from  Heaven  that  sacred 
fire,  the  knowledge  of  the  human  heart. 

And  as  it  was  before,  so  it  shall  be  after,  Fourier, 
with  whose  curious  and  puerile  work  perhaps  it  is 
not  even  acquainted,  the  Society  of  Jesus,  from  the 
stand-point  of  universal  good  and  final  salvation, 
has  ever  traversed,  as  ever  will,  with  master  hand,  the 
keyboard  of  attractions  and  aptitudes. 

Among  those  whom  Father  VaHgnani  prepared  for 


92 


The  Jesuits, 


this  novel  and  difficult  undertaking,  of  which  until 
•then  none  had  formed  any  idea,  the  young  Fathers 
Pazio,  Rugguri,  and  Matthew  Ricci,  came  out  of  the 
ranks  perfect  instruments,  especially  Ricci,  who  was 
in  all  ways  a  living  masterpiece  of  education.  And 
if  anything  could  be  more  astonishing  than  the  bare 
recital  of  this  skillful  preparation,  so  appropriate  even 
in  the  smallest  particulars,  it  is  the  admirably  correct, 
bold,  and  exact  use  which  was  made  of  the  gymnastics 
taught  for  that  epic  struggle  begun  by  Ricci  and  con- 
tinued by  his  successors. 

Xavier,  the  likeness  or  reflection  of  Christ,  had  per- 
formed countless  prodigies ;  in  him  was  personified 
the  genius  of  enthusiastic  piety  ;  he  commanded  men 
and  things  from  the  heights  of  his  love  ;  what  he  would 
have  accompHshed  in  China,  if  God  had  permitted 
him  to  touch  its  shores,  all  sanctified  as  he  was  by  the 
grand  victories  of  Japan  and  India,  none  can  estimate  ; 
but  Xavier  was  dead. 

It  was  necessary  to  replace  this  divine  talisman 
which  he  had  won  from  Heaven,  by  the  efforts  of  hu- 
man prudence,  aided  by  Divine  grace,  without  which 
all  work  is  vain. 

It  is  on  this  account  that  Ricci,  less  supernatural 
than  Xavier,  excites,  however,  more  interest  through- 
out the  pages  of  this  Christian  Odyssey.  He  is  but 
man,  struggHng  with  the  Chinese  Empire — that  enor- 
mous trifle,  with  every  imaginable  weapon ;  he  is  at 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions. 


93 


once,  if  one  may  use  the  illustration,  an  apostle  and 
an  adventurer — a  Saint  Paul  and  a  Robinson  Crusoe ; 
sublime,  industrious,  subtle,  and  daring ;  playing  with 
the  eclipse  like  Christopher  Columbus  ;  disdaining  not 
the  smallest  detail  necessary  to  the  accomplishment 
of  his  object ;  profiting  by  the  high-road,  but  guessing 
which  side-paths  to  traverse ;  intrepidly  piercing  his 
way,  but,  in  the  face  of  an  obstacle,  drawing  back 
without  demur,  only  to  try  another  route ;  entitled  to 
twice  the  privileges  of  all  diplomatists,  but  gaining 
every  inch  of  ground  at  the  price  of  himself,  his  entire 
self,  dispensed  with  an  able  economy,  with  an  inex- 
haustible prodigality. 

He  knows  all — all  which  the  Chinese  know,  in  order 
to  insinuate  himself ;  all  which  they  do  not  know  in 
order  to  rule  them.  He  is  a  twofold  Jesuit,  possess- 
ing at  once  the  humihty  of  a  disciple  and  the  com- 
manding spirit  of  a  master.  Every  attack  he  can 
parry ;  to  every  barrier  he  possesses  a  key. 

He  knows  their  literature  better  than  the  literati 
themselves,  and  amid  the  mazes  of  their  philosophy 
might  guide  Confucius  himself. 

He  has  the  mandarin  geography  of  the  earth  at  his  fin- 
ger ends ;  representing  the  globe,  square  as  a  tile,  float- 
ing lazily  in  space  under  the  protection  of  the  emperor, 
Son  of  Heaven ;  he  is  not  ignorant  of  the  gratitude 
which  this  same  earth  owes  to  the  celestial  Van  Lei, 
the  same  emperor,  who,  at  the  bottom  of  his  palace, 


94 


The  Jesuits, 


obligingly  sustains  it,  and  whose  bounty  of  soul  alone 
prevents  it  from  falling  at  any  moment  into  the  abyss ; 
but  he  knows  still  better  the  true  earth,  such  as  Eu- 
rope represents  it,  voyaging  through  space,  and  the 
sun  and  planets,  and  entire  system  of  the  universe,  as 
it  is  recognized  at  Paris ;  a  well-invented  system,  and 
probably  the  true  one. 

Above  all,  he  could,  at  his  choice,  expatiate  upon 
the  odd  opinions  of  their  savants,  or  utterly  astonish 
them  by  unexpected  revelations  of  learning.  In  fact, 
knowledge  which  should  be  new  to  them,  is  the  treas- 
ure that  he  has  brought  thither.  If  he  so  willed, 
he  could,  in  place  of  announcing  Christ,  pass  himself 
among  them  as  a  god,  by  nothing  more  than  placing 
the  first  book  of  Euclid  within  the  reach  of  the  priests. 

Thus,  after  having  had  so  much  difficulty  to  pass 
the  threshold  of  the  empire,  behold  him,  after  some 
time,  nearly  naturalized  therein.  He  writes  to  Father 
Valignani,  then  at  Macao,  to  consult  him  on  the 
choice  of  an  official  costume.  Having  been  given  the 
country,  it  is  a  question  of  the  greatest  gravity,  and 
his  former  master  advises  him  to  adopt  the  ample  robe 
and  mitre  of  the  Chinese  savants. 

The  choice  is  good ;  Ricci  adopts  it,  and  thus  at- 
tired pursues  his  journey,  which  is  marked  by  as  many 
fantastic  as  heroic  adventures,  as  far  as  Nankin,  where 
he  marks  out  the  site  of  the  future  house  of  the  So- 
ciety, then  goes  on  even  to  Pekin,  where  he  is  admit- 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions. 


95 


ted  (sovereign  honor)  to  visit,  not  indeed  Van  Lei 
himself,  who  can  not,  in  conscience,  relax  for  a  single 
instant  his  grasp  of  the  square  earth  at  the  risk  of  los- 
ing it  forever,  but,  at  least,  the  empty  throne  of  Van 
Lei; — which  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  however — and 
which  invests  him  with  an  influence  equal  to  that 
of  the  mandarins  of  the  best  quality. 

You  may  readily  believe  that  he  does  not  pause  on 
this  happy  road.  Without  any  effort  on  his  part,  the 
rumor  begins  to  be  circulated  that  the  Son  of  Heaven 
admits  him  into  the  secret  of  these  particular  meet- 
ings, where  are  determined  questions  of  immeasur- 
able importance;  among  others,  the  form  of  a  new 
helmet  which  shall  put  the  Tartars  to  flight  without 
combat. 

This  rumor,  which  had  its  birth  among  the  people, 
at  length  reached  the  court ;  and  as  there  was  no  pos- 
sible control  to  be  exerted  by  an  invisible  and  dumb 
emperor,  it  came  to  pass,  incredible  as  it  appears, 
that  the  chief  minister  of  the  empire  himself,  adding 
faith  to  what  was  everywhere  alleged,  sued  for  the 
friendship  of  the  supposed  favorite,  flattering  him,  and 
becoming  his  most  obsequious  follower. 

But  what  of  God  in  all  this  ?  And  the  Word  of 
God  ?  What  becomes  of  the  apostolate  in  the  midst 
of  all  these  strange  adventures  ? 

It  should  be  readily  understood  that  the  apostolate 
here  is  all,  and  there  is  nothing  but  the  apostolate. 


96 


The  Jesuits, 


These  adventures  are  only  the  windings  of  th-e  road 
along  which  the  apostle  is  ever  moving. 

Extraordinary  prudence,  and  most  delicate  ma- 
noeuverings  are  needed  to  arrive  at  the  first  preaching. 

Nothing  here  resembles  what  is  seen  in  any  other 
part  of  the  world.  The  Chinese  understand  every- 
thing, but  play  with  everything ;  they  discuss  all,  but 
evade  all,  though  desirous  to  know  everything.  The 
great  question  is,  how  to  utilize  these  materials  ?  In  or- 
der to  build,  it  is  necessary  to  reconcile  these  contrasts. 

The  subtility  of  their  minds  is  satisfied,  to  a  certain 
degree,  by  the  evident  grandeur  of  the  Christian  law, 
but  they  admit  Christ  only  under  reserve,  and  to  the 
Cross  exclusively. 

This  childish  though  ancient  people,  this  half-polish- 
ed, half-savage  aristocracy,  where  each  mandarin  is  in 
reality  only  a  grotesque  figure,  can  not  accept  the  hu- 
miliation of  the  Cross.  They  can  understand  all  the 
rest,  but  this,  no.  It  is  not  Chinese.  Never  would  a 
Chinese  have  submitted  to  it.  A  Chinese  will  open  his 
stomach  without  repugnance,  but  will  not  attach  him- 
self to  the  Cross.  And  from  the  moment  that  the 
God  of  the  Christians  transgresses  the  law  of  de- 
corum, how  can  the  Chinese  adore  Him  longer  ? 

For  a  long,  long  time  this  obstacle  proved  abso- 
lutely insurmountable.  Ricci  had  gained  the  battle 
over  all  other  things,  but  Chinese  obstinacy  disputed 
the  ground  with  him  inch  by  inch  at  this  last  point. 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions, 


97 


The  great  pride  humbled  itself,  but  not  the  puerile 
vanities,  and  the  very  life  of  this  fantastic  people  is 
made  up  of  boasting,  competitions,  and  petty  strata- 
gems, all  having  for  their  object  the  satisfaction  of 
their  childish  vainglory  ;  it  nourishes,  through  self-love, 
the  most  gigantic  fooleries,  microscopic  monstrosities, 
which  astonish  logic,  disconcert  reason,  and  open  up 
at  every  step,  along  the  apparently  level  path,  abysses 
which  are  both  ridiculous  and  terrible. 

Still,  however,  results  had  been  obtained  which 
may  be  styled  enormous.  Churches  had  been  erected  ; 
seminaries,  before  completion,  had  been  filled. 

Priests  might  be  seen  bearing  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment, and  the  converted  mandarins  were  counted  by 
the  hundreds. 

Chinese  apostles  there  were  even,  true,  invincible 
confessors  of  faith,  among  whom,  Paul  Sin,  the  ad- 
mirable orator,  the  great  Mandarin  Li,  and  numbers 
of  others,  shine  with  peculiar  radiance. 

These  were  men  of  the  antique  type,  whose  virtue 
and  learning  adorned  the  primitive  Church. 

Elsewhere,  under  such  favorable  conditions,  one 
might  regard  the  foundations  of  one  of  the  largest  and 
grandest  Christendoms  of  the  earth,  as  firmly  estab- 
lished ;  but  we  are  writing  of  China,  and,  in  this  coun- 
try of  nightmares,  one  is  always  fearful  of  being  awak- 
ened with  a  start. 

They  were  awakened. 
7 


98 


TJie  Jesuits. 


And,  as  all  calculation  is  ever  set  at  defiance,  by 
the  events  which  occur  among  this  extravagantly 
original  people,  where  strangers  themselves  speedily 
become  infected  with  the  malady  of  the  impossible,  it 
came  about  that  they  were  awakened  by  a  persecution 
which  came  neither  from  the  Chinese  priests,  nor  the 
governors,  nor  the  mandarins,  nor  the  emperor,  but — I 
may  as  well  state  at  once,  for  the  reader  would  never 
divine  from  whence — from  ecclesiastical  authority. 

It  frequently  happens  that  the  Church,  infallible  in 
herself,  has  some  untrustworthy  soldiers  in  the  ranks 
of  her  vast  army.  These  blemishes  are  lost  in  the 
glory  of  the  whole,  but  they  have  existed,  and  do 
exist. 

In  the  year  1606,  the  eighteenth  of  the  able  and 
fruitful  apostleship  of  Matthew  Ricci,  the  ecclesiastical 
authority  in  those  remote  regions  was  vested  in  the  per- 
son of  the  Vicar-General  of  Macao,  where  a  Jesuit  col- 
lege was  established.  The  rector  of  this  college  had 
been  chosen  as  arbitrator  in  a  dispute  pending  between 
the  Vicar-General  and  a  Franciscan  monk,  which  he 
decided  in  favor  of  the  latter.  In  the  heat  of  his  in- 
dignation, the  Vicar-General  launched  an  interdict 
against  the  Franciscans,  the  Jesuits,  the  government 
of  the  city,  and  the  city  itself* 

At  the  same  time,  a  m  Dre  violent  demonstration  was 


*  Crdtineau-Joly,  p.  173,  and  following. 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions.  99 


excited  against  the  Jesuits  in  Canton,  by  a  worthy 
eftbrt  of  the  Chinese  imagination,  which  accused  the 
Jesuits  of  building  citadels,  and  planning,  with  the 
Portuguese  and  Japanese  fleets,  the  invasion  of  the 
country. 

But  little  was  needed  to  inflame  the  populace.  En- 
tire provinces  rose  up  in  arms  against  the  Christians ; 
they  threatened  a  general  massacre,  and  Father  Mar- 
tinez was  put  to  death  by  torture. 

This  was  a  violent,  but  transient  storm.  Ricci  soon 
calmed  the  tempest,  and  shortly  after  established  a 
house  of  the  Novitiate  in  the  very  center  of  Pekin. 

When  God  called  this  faithful  servant  to  Himself, 
four  years  later,  the  entire  population  of  the  capital 
followed  the  cross  which  led  his  funeral  procession, 
and  Father  Schall,  successor  to  this  truly  great  man, 
prospered  in  his  heritage. 

Adam  Schall,  no  less  illustrious  than  Ricci,  was  in- 
volved in  all  the  revolutions  with  which  that  era  among 
the  Chinese  was  rife,  and  which  finally  culminated  in 
a  change  of  dynasty.  At  his  death  the  Jesuits  had  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pubHc  churches,  and  thirty-eight 
houses  or  colleges.  After  the  second  persecution — of 
which  we  say  nothing,  through  respect  for  an  illustri- 
ous Order — another  period  of  prosperity  followed  un- 
der Fathers  Verbust,  Gerbillon,  Perennin,  and  Gaubil. 
which  lasted  many  years,  during  which  the  scientific 
and  literary  attainments  of  the  Chinese  mission  were 


100 


The  Jesuits, 


the  glory  of  the  Church  and  the  admiration  of  the 
savants  of  Europe. 

We  must  not  imagine  that  the  great  effort  of  the 
Jesuits  in  China  had  made  them  abandon  India.  They 
had  evangcHzed  Mogul,  Ceylon,  Bengal,  and  Coro- 
mandel.  Kx.  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  we  find 
the  seminary  at  Goa  sending  confessors  beyond  the 
Ganges,  even  to  the  Indus.  Robert  di  Nobili, 
nephew  of  Popes  and  Emperors,  becomes  the  apostle 
of  the  Brahmins,  whilst  others  evangelize  the  Pariahs. 
The  most  illustrious  among  these,  Jean  de  Bretto,  son 
of  the  Viceroy,  shed  his  blood  in  Maduras. 

Bengal,  Thibet,  Tartary,  Syria,  Persia,  and  Armenia 
see  the  cross  planted,  and  hear  the  Gospel  preached  by 
the  Jesuits.  The  Faith  penetrates  with  them  into  the 
deserts  of  Africa,  the  Empires  of  Ab)ssinia  and  Mo- 
rocco, and  the  coasts  of  Caffre,  Mozambique,  and 
Guinea. 

But  it  is  especially  on  the  New  World  that  they  seek 
to  place  the  yoke  of  Christian  civilization.  There  they 
have  not  only  the  ferocity  of  the  savages  to  conquer ; 
their  most  bitter  enemies  are  the  Calvinist  Corsairs — 
Enghsh,  Hollanders,  and,  alas  !  French  also,  who,  no 
less  cruel  than  the  Redskins,  massacre  every  Jesuit 
who  falls  into  their  hands. 

Such  are  their  orders.  Calvin  himself  has  particu- 
larly designated  the  Society  of  Jesus  as  their  chief  and 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions  loi 

mortal  enemy.  He  does  not  say,  "Kill  this  one 
or  that  one  ;"  but  he  says  :  "  Here  is  an  obstacle ;  re- 
move it." 

His  command  is  only  too  faithfully  obeyed.  Thus 
perished  on  the  fifteenth  of  July,  1570,  within  sight  of 
Palma,  the  blessed  Ignatius  of  Azevedo  and  his  thirty- 
nine  companions,  destined  for  the  missions  of  Brazil. 
A  few  days  later,  thirty  others  shared  a  like  fate. 

The  Society  of  Jesus  lost  seventy-one  victims  to  the 
rage  of  these  heretics.  It  was  the  crusade  of  piracy. 
Sourie,  Capdeville,  and  others  reaped  for  themselves  a 
twofold  good  by  thus  infesting  the  seas ;  on  one  hand, 
enriching  themselves  by  the  spoils  of  their  victims  ; 
on  the  other,  gaining  the  Calvinistic  heaven  by  the 
slaughter  of  missionaries  wherever  they  encountered 
them. 

But  all  the  missionaries  did  not  fall  under  the  blows 
of  these  pirates,  the  malcontents  of  Catholic  morality. 

Those  who  escaped  their  sabres  and  the  empoison- 
ed arrows  of  the  Indians,  traversed  these  deserts  and 
began  another  Crusade.  Enough  survived  for  this 
holy  war,  and  it  was  by  their  efforts  that  Canada,  so 
French  even  in  our  own  day,  was  first  subjugated  to 
the  Catholic  faith  and  the  French  dominion,  after  the 
most  strenuous  efforts,  even  at  the  price  of  the  blood 
of  these  heroes  of  religion  and  patriotism,  who  died 
for  God  and  France  and  who  reap  in  heaven  the 
glory  of  being  forgotten  in  the  ingratitude  of  earth, 


102 


The  Jesuits. 


and  whose  names,  at  least,  I  will  inscribe  on  these 
pages — Joques,  Baniel,  and  Brebeuf,  the  noble  follow'^- 
ers  of  Champlain. 

Who  has  not  heard  of  the  Catholic  governments  of 
Paraguay,  those  famous  "Reductions"  so  praised  by 
Robertson,  Albert  de  Haller,  Biiftbn,  Montesquieu, 
Chateaubriand,  and  of  which  Voltaire  said :  "  The 
Establishments  of  the  Spanish  Jesuits  alone  in  Para- 
guay seem,  in  some  respects,  the  triumph  of  human- 
ity ?  "  Unha}>i3ily,  we  shall  be  compelled  to  speak  of 
Paraguay  again,  and  of  the  cruel  recompense  which 
was  reserved  for  the  Jesuits  by  the  contemporaries  of 
Voltaire. 

In  another  part  of  South  America,  Carthagena,  the 
Jesuits  performed  wonders  of  charity.  Even  as  in 
India,  they  had  made  themselves  Pariahs  in  order  to 
convert  the  Pariahs,  and  Brahmins  in  order  to  convert 
the  Brahmins ;  so,  now,  the  blessed  Father  Claver  be- 
comes, as  far  as  possible,  a  negro — nay,  even  more 
than  a  negro,  he  becomes  the  "  slave  of  slaves  " — in 
order  to  preach  the  truths  of  religion,  and  awaken 
some  of  its  sentiments  within  these  miserable  victims 
of  European  cupidity. 

One  must  read  his  story  in  order  to  understand  the 
wide  difference  which  separates  Philanthropy  from 
Charity, 

As  for  Claver,  he  has  no  power  to  liberate  the  slaves, 
but  he  waits  in  the  place  of  sale  to  which  they  are 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions.  103 


driven,  like  so  many  cattle.  Sick,  poor,  dying  with 
fatigue,  he  nevertheless  bears  to  them,  on  his  shoulders, 
his  burden  of  begged  provisions ;  he  nurses  these  cap- 
tives, gives  them  to  drink,  laves  their  faces,  bathes 
their  feet,  and  kisses  away  their  tears,  exclaiming, 
"  Oh !  my  brothers  !  my  friends  !  my  dear  masters  ! 
what  would  you  ask  of  me?  Do  not  fear  to  exact 
everything  from  your  servant,  even  his  life,  for  I  belong 
to  you  ;  you  have  bought  me  in  Jesus  Christ !  I, 
Peter  Claver,  am  the  slave  of  slaves  forever." 

Other  instances  of  intense  devotion  are  frequent ; 
witness  .that  of  Father  de  Rhodes,  at  Tonk-kirig ; 
Father  Cabral,  in  Thibet  and  Nepaul ;  Fathers  Men- 
drano  and  Figueroa,  at  New  Grenada ;  and  Jean  de 
Arcos,  at  Caraccas. 

It  was  here  that  the  Jesuits,  for  the  first  time,  were 
accused  of  mixing  themselves  in  commercial  affairs 
because  they  furnished  to  their  neophytes,  at  a  dis- 
count, the  goods  for  which  the  real  dealers  charged 
them  usurious  prices.  Behold,  their  unpardonable 
crime !  Better  to  attempt  to  pass  between  the  tree 
and  its  bark  than  to  interfere  between  the  merchant 
and  his  profits. 

Neither  time  nor  evidence  can  extinguish  the  hatred 
of  those  to  whom  the  only  wrong  done  by  the  Jesuits 
was  to  reduce  their  too  enormous  profits,  and  you  may 
still  encounter  those  who  will  inform  you  that  the 
Jesuits  maintain  mighty,  though  invisible,  fleets  on  the 


104 


The  Jesuits. 


ocean  which  sail  to  and  fro  with  marvelous  rapidity, 
carrying  goods  of  an  unknown  nature  from  mysterious 
consignors. 

When  a  Jesuit  involves  himself  in  business  affairs — 
and  of  this  there  exists  a  mournful  and  too  well-known 
example — the  Order  interdicts  him,  expels  him,  and 
ruins  itself  in  paying  a  debt  it  never  contracted.  And 
notwithstanding,  the  Order  suffers  for  the  fault  of  a 
single  member  ! 

We  will  recount  the  iniquitous  proceedings  to  which 
history  has  given  the  name  of  the  trial  of  Father  de  la 
Valette. 

The  Jesuits  do  not  interfere  with  commerce.  They 
give,  but  never  sell.  They  possess  neither  stores  nor 
fleets,  though  they  never  contradict  the  false  asser- 
tions to  the  contrary. 

You  will  look  in  vain,  in  their  books,  for  the  proofs 
of  their  zeal,  their  courage,  and  their  persistent  charity. 
Rarely  do  they  put  forth  a  denial  even  to  the  most 
startling  accusations,  and  it  is  really  amongst  their 
enemies  that  you  must  seek  for  the  refutation  of  the 
absurd  calumnies  advanced  against  them. 

"  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  authors  who 
censure,  in  the  severest  terms,  the  licentious  manners 
of  the  regular  Spanish  monks,  all  accord  a  tribute  of 
respect  to  the  conduct  of  the  Jesuits.  Governed  by  a 
more  perfect  discipline  than  that  of  the  other  Orders, 
or  actuated  by  the  desire  of  preserving  the  honor  of  the 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions. 


105 


Society,  so  dear  to  each  of  its  members,  the  Jesuits, 
as  well  in  Mexico  as  in  Peru,  have  preserved  an  irre- 
proachable regularity  of  manners." 

It  was  not  a  Jesuit  who  wrote  this  ;  not  even  a 
Cathohc* 

How  far  removed  is  this  tribute  of  a  Protestant,  an 
honest  man  and  intelligent  writer,  from  the  infamous 
falsehoods  which  defile  our  books  and  journals. 

Previous  to  the  ministry  of  Choiseul,  under  which 
was  consummated  that  suppression  of  the  Jesuits  which 
Montalembert,  after  Montyon,  has  termed,  "  the 
greatest  iniquity  of  modern  times,"  let  us  glance  briefly 
at  the  general  state  of  the  missions  founded  among  the 
infidels,  by  the  disciples  of  Ignatius,  in  the  most  diverse 
countries  of  the  world.  To  begin  with  the  Jesuits  of 
Portugal.  Between  the  time  of  1551  and  1623,  a 
period  of  seventy-two  years,  they  had  sent  six  hundred 
and  sixty-two  missionaries  to  the  Indies,  and  two 
hundred  and  twenty-two  to  Brazil,  thus  allowing  a  rate 
of  twelve  a  year  ;  and  numbered  in  1616,  two  hundred 
and  eighty  in  the  Province  of  Goa,  and  one  hundred 
and  eighty  in  that  of  Brazil,  which,  in  1759,  contained 
four  hundred  and  forty-five. 

The  mission  of  Japan  counted,  in  1581,  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  Christians,  two  hundred  church- 
es, and  fifty-nine  missionaries.    In  China,  in  the  year 


*  Robertson,  "History  of  America,"  Vol,  X.,  p.  27. 


io6 


The  Jesuits. 


1680,  the  single  Province  of  Nankin  contained  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  Christians.  As  for  the  Indies, 
Father  Laynez  baptized  in  Maduras  fifteen  thousand 
idolaters,  in  the  course  of  six  months,  in  the  year  1699. 

In  1763,  America  counted  in  Peru  alone,  five  hun- 
dred and  twenty-six  Jesuits ;  in  Mexico,  five  hundred 
and  seventy-two  ;  at  Noveau  Royaume  (New  Cartha- 
gena),  one  hundred  and  ninety-five  ;  at  Quito,  two 
hundred  and  nine  ;  at  Chili,  two  hundred  and  forty- 
two.  At  Maragnon,  Father  Vieyra  da  Silva,  in  1167, 
organized  fifty  Christian  villages,  on  something  over 
four  hundred  leagues  of  coast. 

The  missions  of  the  Levant,  founded  by  Henry  IV., 
and  revived  by  Louis  XIV.,  propagated  the  Faith,  and 
with  it  the  French  influence,  in  Greece,  Constanti- 
nople, Persia,  Smyrna,  throughout  the  Archipelago,  in 
Armenia,  the  Crimea,  Chaldea,  Syria,  and  Egypt. 

Such  was  the  prosperous  situation  of  afiairs,  ever 
tending  toward  the  enlargement  of  the  missions  of 
the  Order,  at  the  moment  when  a  cruel  tyranny, 
urged  by  the  representations  of  a  Pombal,  an  Aranda, 
and  a  Choiseul,  destroyed  the  work  of  so  much  effort 
and  so  many  years,  whose  foundations  extended 
throughout  the  universe,  and  which  resembled  a  great 
empire.  The  mind  is  astounded  at  the  idea  of  such 
insignificant  men,  who  showed  themselves  so  disas- 
trously incapable  in  their  several  administrations, 
being  able  to  destroy  such  a  gigantic  work. 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions.  107 

We  say  nothing  here  of  the  Portuguese,  the  Spanish, 
nor  the  French  minister,  because  we  shall  devote  a 
portion  of  this  book  to  the  study  of  each  in  turn. 

It  will  repay  the  trouble  of  perusing,  not  on  account 
of  what  they  have  accomplished,  for  their  work  is 
naught,  but  because  of  the  moral  and  material  treas- 
ure which  they  have  destroyed  in  the  blindness  of 
their  hate. 

Whilst  a  large  number  among  the  Jesuits  devoted 
themselves  to  the  conversion  of  idolatrous  peoples, 
others  endeavored  to  stem  the  tide  of  heresy  and 
schism  throughout  Europe. 

We  have  seen  Lefevre,  Le  Jay,  and  Bobadilla,  three 
of  the  original  Jesuits,  oppose  themselves  to  the  in- 
numerable army  of  apostates  and  rebels  who  filled 
Germany  with  sacrilege  and  murder.  They  were  soon 
followed  into  the  arena  by  the  blessed  Peter  Canisius,* 
one  of  the  noblest  figures  of  the  Order — a  man  en- 
dowed with  the  most  persuasive  eloquence,  the  pro- 
foundest  science,  and  as  fertile  in  resources  as  a 
polemist.  The  Lutherans  themselves  said  of  him  : 
"  There  is  no  way  of  resisting  the  truth  that  this  man 
proclaims." 


*  Born  on  the  8th  of  May,  1521,  at  Nimeguen  ;  died  the 
2ist  of  December,  1597,  at  Freiburg,  in  Switzerland  ; 
beatified  on  the  20th  of  August,  1864,  by  Pope  Pius  IX^ 


io8 


The  Jesuits. 


But  his  charity  was  his  most  distinguishing  charac- 
teristic ! 

At  Ingolstadt,  Canisiusand  Sahiieron,  both  eminent 
Professors  of  the  University,  were  seen  each  day  leav- 
ing their  chairs  to  minister  to  the  sick  in  the  hospitals, 
or  instruct  the  little  children  in  the  schools  or  even 
public  places. 

As  a  recompense  for  this  they  naturally  received 
persecution. 

Canisius,  writing  to  Father  Laynez,  who  had  be- 
come General  of  the  Society  on  the  death  of  Loyola, 
says  :  "  Our  enemies,  by  the  calumnies  which  they 
circulate  concerning  me,  have  made  for  me  a  reputa- 
tion which  I  dare  not  lay  claim  to  for  myself.  They 
honor  the  other  Fathers  in  a  similar  manner.  Soon, 
perhaps,  words  will  be  replaced  by  blows  and  other 
cruel  treatment. 

"  Thank  heaven,  the  more  they  endeavor  to  decry 
us,  the  more  eager  we  are  to  show  them  all  charity. 

-  "They  are  our  persecutors,  but  they  are  our  brothers 
also.  We  are  bound  to  love  them,  because  of  the 
love  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  shed  His  blood  for  them,  and 
because  they  sin,  perhaps  through  ignorance." 

I  can  not  refrain  from  remarking  here  that  these 
beautiful  thoughts,  so  discreetly  expressed,  constitute 
what  its  enemies  term, excellence^  "Jesuitism"; 
that  is  to  say,  visible  hypocrisy.  What  avowal  do 
those  who  can  not,  nor  will  not,  believe  in  the  honesty 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions.  109 

nor  the  goodness  of  the  human  heart,  suffer  to  escape 
them  ? 

Their  creed  should  be  written  on  their  foreheads. 
We  deny  that  which  we  are  incapable  of  ourselves. 

Jesuitism  is  Charity,  reviled  by  men  who  are  so  far 
removed  from  it  as  never  to  have  experienced  it  nor 
even  seen  it. 

Meanwhile  the  minds  of  many  were  convinced. 
Everywhere  the  souls  of  many  were  converted.  "  The 
Jesuits,"  says  a  Protestant  writer,  Dr.  Leopold  Ranke, 
speaking  of  their  labors  in  Germany,  "  lack  neither 
zeal  nor  prudence.  One  sees  them  successfully  spread- 
ing throughout  their  vicinities,  and  attracting  the 
masses.  Their  churches  are  the  most  frequented. 
Should  they  discover  anywhere  a  Lutheran  well-versed 
in  the  Bible,  and  who,  by  virtue  of  it,  holds  great  sway 
in  his  vicinity,  they  employ  every  means  of  converting 
him,  and  nearly  always  they  are  successful,  being  so 

habituated  to  controversy  The  Electoral  Prince 

of  Mayence,  Schweickhard,  MaximiUan  of  Bavaria, 
and  the  Archduke  Ferdinand,  all  the  eminent  men, 
come  from  the  school  of  the  Jesuits  ;  so  capable  of 
engendering  great  ideas  within  the  minds  of  their 
students." 

These  princes  were  themselves  reformers,  and  they 
have  reaUzed  by  their  faith  the  religious  restoration. 

Do  you  perceive  now  what  role  was  played  by  those 
who  are  so  readily  termed   the   obscurantists,  in 


no 


The  Jesuits. 


the  history  of  superstition  ?  Witness  the  biography  of 
Father  Frederic  de  Spee,*  for  instance,  one  of  the 
most  renowned  writers  of  his  time.  Indignant  at  the 
frequent  abuse  of  the  criminal  process  then  in  force 
against  sorcerers,  he  undertook,  with  rare  courage, 
their  defense  against  their  Minded  judges  and  a  fanatic 
pubhc.  His  book,  "  Causa  CriminaUs,"  produced 
such  an  iuipression  in  France  and  Germany,  that  from 
the  time  of  its  pubhcation,  notwithstanding  the  credu- 
Hty  of  the  people  and  the  faulty  tribunals,  the  absurd 
and  sanguinary  legislation  which  had  regulated  Europe 
for  so  many  centuries,  steadily  fell  into  disuse. 

Shortly  after,  in  1635,  Father  de  Spee  happened  to 
be  in  Treves  when  the  Imperialist  forces  seized  that 
city,  occupied  by  the  French.  The  Jesuit  by  his  zeal 
and  courage  saved  that  great  city  from  pillage,  and 
the  captives  from  death.  Four  hundred  French  pris- 
oners obtained  their  lives  and  liberty,  together  with 
clothes  and  an  authorized  conduct,  enabling  them  to 
return  to  their  own  country. 

But  pestilence  followed  war,  and  Father  de  Spe'e 
could  not  follow  those  whom  his  efforts  had  saved  ; 
he  remained  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  sick,  and  then 
soon  after  expired,  aged  forty  years,  on  the  field  of 
honor  and  charity. 

During  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  Salmcron  and 


*  Born  at  Kaiserwerth,  near  Dusseldorf,  in  1591. 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions.  in 


Pasqiiier  Broiiet  had  traversed  England  and  Ireland, 
in  order  to  console  and  strengthen  the  Catholics  under 
the  terrible  persecution  to  which  they  were  subjected. 
But  to  a  constant  peril,  a  constant  safeguard  must  be 
afforded.  Under  the  sanguinary  reign  of  Elizabeth, 
whose  edicts  recall  those  of  Nero  and  Diocletian,*  a 
mission  of  twelve  Jesuits  was  organized  under  the 
direction  of  Edmund  Campian  and  Robert  Parsons, 
both  former  members  of  the  University  of  Oxford.  A 
price  was  set  upon  their  heads,  and  they  were  aware 
of  it.  "We  have  so  much  to  do  here,"  writes  Father 
Parsons,  ^'  that  often  we  pause  only  for  two  hours  at 
most,  just  sufficient  to  enable  us  to  take  a  short  re- 
pose." 

The  illustrious  Doctor  Allen  assures  us  that  in  the 
space  of  a  year,  the  Fathers  had  gained  more  souls  in 
England  than  they  could  during  a  life-time  in  other 
places.  "The  number  of  Catholics,"  he  adds,  "is 
estimated  at  ten  thousand  more  than  last  year." 

But  the  shedding  of  blood  was  needed  to  perfect 
the  apostles'  work.  Edmund  Campian  was  the  first 
to  lay  down  his  life  ;  after  him,  several  of  his  brethren 
gathered  the  palm  of  martyrdom — Jean  Cornelius, 

*  Example  :  From  the  15th  of  July  to  the  31st  of  August, 
15S0,  warrants  were  issued  against  Jifty  thousand  Cath- 
olics, who  were  accused  and  thrown  into  prison,  and  pun- 
ished, with  confiscation,  banishment,  and  a  great  number 
with  capital  punishment. 


112 


The  Jesuits. 


Robert  Southwell,  Henry  Walpole,*  Thomas  Bosgrave, 
Roger  Filcock,  Francis  Page,  Henry  and  Thomas  Gar- 
nett,  Thomas  Holland,  Rodolphe  Corby,  Henry  Mors, 
Richard  Bradley,  Cansfied,  Ciithbert  Prescott,  and  Ed- 
mund Neville.  These  martyrs  were  first  hung  from 
the  gallows,  then  cut  down  aHve  and  quartered,  after 
having  had  their  entrails  plucked  out.  "Ibant  Gau- 
dentes,"t  as  was  to  be  said  three  hundred  years  later 
of  one  of  the  companions  of  the  beloved  Father  Oli- 
vraint  in  marching  to  his  death.  Their  canticle  was 
silenced  only  when  their  hearts  ceased  to  beat. 

It  is  of  their  persecutors  that  Voltaire  has  written, 
"The  absurdity  of  these  fanatics  was  joined  to  fury; 
they  were  at  once  the  most  foolish  and  the  most  ter- 
rible of  men." 

We  joyfully  cite  this  testimony  of  a  mind  which  God 
had  gifted  so  wonderfully  with  all  save  the  inestimable 
boon  of  faith. 

He  has  brought  against  the  Society  numerous  accu- 
sations which  bear  the  stamp  of  falsity,  but  numerous 
also  are  the  pages  where  his  pen  seeks  to  do  them 
justice. 

The  cruelty  of  their  insane  persecutors  was  con- 
quered by  the  wisdom  of  these  sages,  who  knew  how 
to  die  ;  and  after  that  long  and  fierce  persecution,  the 


*  He  had  three  brothers  and  a  cousin  in  the  Society. 
\  They  went  rejoicing. 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions.  •  113 


Catholic  faith,  thanks  to  the  labors  of  the  apostles 
and  the  blood  of  the  martyrs,  became  firmly  rooted 
in  England,  and  flourished  anew  there. 

The  proof  that  Protestantism,  which  appeared  so 
completely  victorious  at  first,  was  checked  in  its 
triumphant  career,  is  the  fact  that  all  the  Northern 
countries  of  Europe  wavered  in  it  at  the  same  time. 
The  "plague  of  Jesuits,"  as  they  were  termed  by  the 
preachers  of  the  Reformation,  had  overrun  those  king- 
doms where  Christiern  prostituted  the  mitre  to  a  valet. 

Where,  not  long  before,  Gustavus  Vasa  had  over- 
thrown the  images  of  Mary,  Father  Anthony  Possevin  * 
preached  anew  the  Gospel,  and  both  kings  and  people 
returned  obedient  to  his  voice.  He  traveled  to  Stock- 
holm, received  there  the  secret  abjuration  of  the  King 
of  Sweden,  John  III.,  and  took  the  route  to  Moscow. 
There  the  confessor  showed  himself  a  diplomat  of  the 
first  order;  he  negotiated  at  Kremhn  the  peace  be- 
tween the  Czar,  John  IV.,  and  the  Poles ;  then  joy- 
fully abandoning  this  brilliant  role,  he  returned  to  Pa- 
dua to  modestly  resume  in  that  city  his  functions  of 
professor  and  preacher.  Admiration  is  not  even  al- 
lowed for  this  absolute  obedience  practiced  with  so 
much  humility  ;  it  is  the  Rule,  and  in  this  instance  hu- 
mility was  particularly  fruitful ;  for  out  of  the  hands 
of  this  master  came  St.  Francis  de  Sales. 


*  Born  at  Mantua  in  1534. 
8 


114 


The  Jesuits. 


Less  than  fifty  years  after  the  death  of  Possevin,  two 
of  his  brethren,  seconded  by  Rene  Descartes,  that  illus- 
trious pupil  of  the  Jesuits,  converted  the  daughter  of 
Gustavus  Adolphus  to  Catholicism.  Doctor  Ranke,  the 
Protestant,  to  whose  impartiality  we  have  already  borne 
honorable  testimony,  wrote  as  follows  :  "The  activity 
of  the  Jesuits  made  itself  felt,  throughout  the  Provinces, 
among  the  people  of  Livonia,  in  Lithuania,  where  they 
had  to  combat  the  ancient  worship  of  serpents; 
among  the  Greeks,  where  often  the  Jesuits  were  the 
only  Catholic  priests ;  and  in  Poland,  where  hundreds 
of  Religious  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  consecrated  them- 
selves to  the  revival  of  the  CathoHc  faith." 

Here,  however,  their  work  received  the  seal  of  the 
cross.  Andrew  Bobola,*  cruelly  martyred  by  the 
schismatic  Cossacks,  was  henceforth  to  be  in  heaven 
the  new  patron  of  Catholic  Poland. 

We  will  close  this  brief  summary  of  the  missions  on 
the  two  continents  by  a  few  remarks  upon  the  work 
of  the  Jesuits  among  the  great  Catholic  nations  in 
Italy,  Spain,  and  Portugal ;  the  countries  of  Germany 
remaining  faithful  to  Rome,  which  were  the  Low 
Countries  and-  Austria.  As  for  France,  we  shall  de- 
vote to  it  a  special  chapter. 

*  Born  in  Poland  in  1590  ;  died  for  the  faith  at  Yanov  on 
the  i6th  of  May,  1657;  beatified  by  Pope  Pius  IX.,  30th 
of  October,  1853.  The  martyred  Father  Olivraint  has  writ- 
ten the  life  of  this  martyr. 


A  Glance  at  the  Missmis,  115 


Certain  it  is  that  two  at  least  among  these  nations 
verified  the  assertion  brought  against  them  by  one  of 
the  most  hostile  writers  of  the  enemies  of  the  Society, 
the  apostate  Huber,  of  Munich.  "  The  Order,"  *he 
says,  obtained  in  a  short  time  surprising  advantages 
over  Protestantism,  the  'reform'  movement  was 
stifled  in  Italy,  and  thrown  back  in  the  Northern 
countries  of  Germany."  In  support  of  this  statement, 
Huber  employs  the  grand  testimony  of  Macaulay. 
"  Protestantism,"  says  this  noble  writer,  "  was  arrested 
in  its  victorious  march,  and  repulsed  with  a  giddy 
rapidity  from  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  to  the  borders  of  the 
Baltic. 

"  The  Order  had  been  only  a  century  in  existence, 
and  already  it  had  filled  the  entire  world  with  monu- 
ments of  its  sufierings,  and  its  grand  struggle  for  the 
faith." 

"  In  short,  Rome,  Venice,  and  Padua,  and  the  entire 
Italian  Peninsula,  as  well  as  the  immense  empire 
which  united  under  one  sceptre  Austria,  Spain,  and 
Flanders,  saw  the  Jesuits  for  more  than  two  centuries 
combating  error,  defending  the  true  faith,  re-establish- 
ing ecclesiastical  discipline,  propagating  piety  by  their 
^example,  preaching  charitable  works  for  the  relief  of 
the  sick  and  poor;  opening  asylums  to  suffering,  to 
indigence,  to  repentance,  and  old  age,  and  forming  in 
youth  the  admirable  virtues  that  we  admire  in  a  Louis 
de  Gonzaga,  or  a  Stanislaus  Kostka. 


ii6 


The  Jesuits. 


Again,  look  at  the  altars  raised  on  all  sides  in  honor 
of  saints  whom  the  Society  had  filled  with  its  own 
spirit.  '*  Rome  venerated  Saint  Ignatius,  and  Saint 
Francis  Borgia ;  Naples,  Saint  Francis  de  Hieronimo  ; 
Spain,  the  blessed  Alphonso  Rodriquez ;  Belgium, 
the  blessed  John  Berchmans ;  Holland,  Catholic  Swit- 
zerland, and  the  Tyrol,  the  blessed  Peter  Canisius  ; 
France,  Saint  John  Francis  Regis. 

And  how  did  all  these  men  arrive  at  the  heights 
of  Christian  perfection  ?  By  the  exact  and  heroic  ob- 
servation of  the  rules  of  their  Institute ;  by  the  prac- 
tice of  obedience,  such  as  Saint  Ignatius  defined  it,  by 
their  devotion  to  good  works,  and  by  faithfully  retain- 
ing the  spirit  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  which  can  suffer 
persecution,  and  even  be  for  a  time  destroyed,  but 
which  none  has  ever  dreamed  of  reforming,  because 
no  one  has  ever  called  it  corrupt,  except  the  "  Soli- 
taries"! of  Port-Royal,  to  whom  Voltaire  himself  has 
replied,  and  those  worthy  people  whose  trade  it  is  to 
sell  flayed  Jesuit,  and  whom  assuredly  none  will  take 
the  trouble  to  answer. 

There  is,  however,  one  trifle  which  deserves  a  pass- 
ing notice  which  should  be  refuted.  It  is  the  fashion 
among  the  copyists  of  "  dictionnaires,"  which  have 

*  Born  the  31st  of  Januarys  1597  ;  died  31st  of  December, 
1716  ;  canonized  the  5th  of  April,  1737,  by  Pope  Clement 
XII. 

f  The  French  Jansenists. 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions, 


117 


faithfully  transmitted  the  same  fooleries  since  the  En- 
cyclopedique  "  deluge,  to  proclaim  from  the  housetops 
the  decadence  of  the  countries  which  remain  firm  in  the 
Faith,  and  to  attribute  to  the  Jesuits  the  cause  of  this 
torpor. 

Among  other  infected  countries,  they  cite  Austria, 
Spain,  and  Portugal.  But  yesterday  they  cited  Mexi- 
co ;  but  since  Juarez,  they  presume  to  do  so  no  longer. 

Why  not  Italy  ?  And  especially  why  not  Belgium  ? 
Are  they  so  convinced  that  the  diadem  shall  remain 
so  securely  on  the  brow  of  England,  who  sees  heresy 
at  work  within  her,  and  who  already  questions  per- 
haps, if  Protestantism  be  at  bottom  a  good  bargain  ? 

Much  has  been  remarked  on  the  inferiority  of 
Catholic  countries.  For  my  part,  I  grant  it  to  a  certain 
extent,  because  I  do  not  measure  human  grandeur  ex- 
clusively by  the  acquisition  of  the  hundred-cent  piece  ; 
and  the  American  god,  whether  it  be  the  dollar  or  the 
revolver,  does  not  inspire  me  with  any  species  of  rev- 
erence ;  but  even  admitting  the  decadence  of  certain 
Catholic  countries,  is  it  comparable  to  the  horrible  in- 
testinal corruption  of  certain  Protestant  countries  ?  It 
is  not  necessary  to  name  these  countries;  but  who  does 
not  know  them  ? 

Again,  were  not  these  Catholic  peoples,  Catholic  in 
the  time  of  their  splendor  ?  Were  they  not  more 
Catholic  then  than  they  are  to-day  ?  Have  they  not 
gradually  fallen  away,  little  by  little,  according  as  they 


Ii8 


The  Jcstiits. 


lost  faith,  as  they  imbibed  the  poison  of  indifference 
and  incredulity  ? 

As  for  casting  the  odium  of  this  decline  upon  the 
Jesuits,  whom  does  it  make  appear  ridiculous  ?  Is  it 
necessary  to  impute  to  them  the  progress  of  a  disease 
which  they  have  so  energetically  combated  ? 

Moreover,  the  Jesuits  have  been  driven  from  most 
Catholic  States,  chiefly,  by  the  very  ones  who  have 
enervated  and  weakened  these  States  ;  they  have  been 
driven  from  the  midst  of  the  prosperity  which  their 
efforts  had  so  largely  contributed  to  produce  in  those 
States  ;  and  their  fruitful  labor  in  those  States  has  been 
replaced  by — 

But  of  what  use  to  say  by  what  ? 

Has  Spain,  Portugal,  the  Kingdom  of  Naples,  the 
Duchy  of  Parma,  the  Empire  of  Austria,  all  the  States 
which  have  driven  out  the  Jesuits,  been  so  prosperous 
since  in  their  internal  affairs  ? 

And  France? 

If  they  have  been  prosperous,  why  do  they  com- 
plain  ? 

If,  on  the  contrary,  they  have  regretted  the  absence 
of  the  Jesuits,  as  history  testifies,  whom  do  they  hope 
to  befool  in  attributing  to  the  agents  of  prosperity  the 
misfortunes  which  were  only  produced  after  their  un- 
just and  ill-omened  expulsion?  Let  each  be  at  least 
responsible  for  his  acts. 

If  what  was  pure  gold  in  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits 


A  Glance  at  the  Missions,  119 


changes  into  lead  in  the  hands  of  their  spoliators, 
whose  the  fault  ? 

Has  the  reader  yet  discovered,  by  what  he  has  read 
so  far,  the  motives  of  the  truly  extraordinary  hate 
which  has  ever  attended  the  Society  of  Jesus  ? 

I  myself  answer,  Yes  and  No. 

Yes,  for  the  enemies  of  the  Church;  no,  for  its 
friends. 

The  enemies  of  the  Church  have  good  reason  to 
hate  the  Jesuits ;  the  friends  of  religion  have  cause  to 
esteem  and  love  them. 

It  is  not  our  intention  to  give  to  these  words  any 
meaning  which  would  tend  to  confound  the  servants 
^nth  the  master,  the  Jesuits  with  the  Church.  The 
Society  of  Jesus  is  nothing  in  comparison  with  the 
Church,  which  alone  has  the  promise  of  immor- 
taUty. 

The  Society  of  Jesus  could  disappear,  without  one 
stone  of  the  divine  edifice  being  disturbed. 

But  "  all  the  enemies  of  the  Church  are  in  a  special 
manner  the  enemies  of  the  Jesuits." 

This  is  their  peculiar  recommendation  to  the  confi- 
dence of  Catholics. 

It  is  an  unparalleled  glory  for  the  Society  of  Jesus 
that  the  enemies  of  the  Church  should  unanimously 
strike  at  it,  denounce  it,  and  calumniate  it ;  a  singular 
privilege,  a  glorious  prerogative,  which  has  made  their 


120 


The  Jesuits. 


name  the  most  glorious  that  could  be  borne  by  Chris- 
tians in  the  times  in  which  we  live."* 

We  have  cast  a  glance  at  their  work  outside  of 
France.  Let  us  now  turn  our  eyes  homeward,  and  see 
what  they  have  done  here  to  merit  their  name  being 
used  as  the  crowning  insult,  applied  not  only  to  every 
priest,  to  every  Catholic,  but  to  every  honest  man, 
honestly  seeking  to  serve  his  country. 

Read  the  standard  journals,  enter  the  good"  clubs, 
and  you  will  hear  there  the  name  Jesuit,  applied  in- 
discriminately to  advocates,  property  owners,  states- 
men of  every  shade  of  politics,  to  all  those  who  know 
how  to  read,  but  not  how  to  howl.  Jesuits  is  applied 
to  gendarmes,  prefects,  marshals,  and  Brothers  of  the 
Christian  Doctrine  ;  to  Protestant  pastors  themselves 
the  name  is  called ;  to  magistrates ;  to  soldiers.  Jesuits  ! 
Jesuits  !   Jesuits  ! 

Never  has  an  equal  fury  rendered  men  illustrious. 

If  there  be  not  glory  in  this,  where  is  it  ? 

*  Count  de  Montalembert,  speech  in  the  Chamber  of  Peers, 
8th  of  May  and  nth  of  June,  1844. 


IV. 


FRANCE. 

The  hour  in  which  the  lame  mendicant  of  the  Col- 
lege of  Saint  Barbara  toiled  up  the  steep  of  Mont- 
martre  was  an  eventful  one  for  our  ancestors.  France, 
baptized  with  Clovis,  glorified  by  Charlemagne,  plant- 
ed with  the  palm  of  St.  Louis,  was  essentially  a  Chris- 
tian country,  but  still  experienced  the  consequences 
of  the  religious  and  political  revolution  which  con- 
vulsed Germany,  Switzerland,  and  England. 

Desolation  spread  beyond  her  frontiers  ;  within,  Cal- 
vin steadily  forged  his  armor. 

Between  the  vow  of  Montmartre  and  the  Bull  of  Paul 
III.,  Calvin  had  brought  to  light  his  "  Christian  Insti- 
tution," and  thus  founded  the  sect  from  whence  should 
spring  the  Huguenots,*  and  with  them  civil  and  more 
dire  calamity,  religious  war,  '■'■plus  qiiavi  civilia  bella." 

The  smoldering  fire  already  sent  forth  sparks  and 
smoke. 

Some  years  later  the  Amboiset  conspiracy  should 
betray  the  fanatical  aspirations  of  the  so-called  "  re- 
formers." 


*  1536. 


1 1560. 

(121) 


122 


The  Jesuits. 


At  this  perilous  juncture,  the  role  of  the  new-born 
Society  could  not  be  mistaken  ;  it  fulfilled  precisely 
the  end  for  which  it  was  instituted ;  devoting  itself  to 
the  Catholic,  which  had  already  become  the  national 
cause.  At  the  solicitation  of  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine, 
and  several  other  wise  and  learned  prelates,  Henry  II. 
had,  in  1550,  granted  letters  patent  to  the  Society  of 
Jesus.* 

But  both  the  declared  and  secret  enemies  of  the 
Catholic  Faith  feared  these  new  comers  too  much  not 
to  oppose,  with  all  their  force,  their  establishment  in 
France.  The  Huguenots  and  politicians  worked  so 
effectually  that  Parliament,  whose  opposition,  coeval 
with  the  existence  of  the  Order,  remained  unwavering 
to  the  end,  refused  to  register  the  royal  letters. t 

Two  years  later,  a  new  edict  was  the  occasion  of 
new  opposition,  favored  by  the  death  of  the  king. 

Francis  II.  reiterated  three  times  his  injunctions  on 
the  subject.  Charles  IX.  returned  to  the  charge  with 
no  more  success,  so  deeply  had  the  spirit  of  rebellion 
and  repugnance  to  all  that  was  essentially  Catholic, 
infested  the  haughty  magistracy. 

Finall}'-,  on  the  15th  of  September,  1561,  the  Col- 
loquy of  Poissy  to  which  Parliauient,  taking  refuge  in 


*  Letters  Patent  of  the  12th  of  February,  25th  of  April,  and 
the  gth  of  October,  1550. 

f  Letters  Patent  of  the  4th  and  i8th  of  March,  1561. 


France. 


123 


subterfuge,  had  referred  the  case,  solemnly  received 
the  Jesuits  into  France,  under  some  restrictive  clauses, 
afterward  removed  by  Charles  IX. ^  in  1565,  and  by 
Henry  III.  in  1580. 

They  certainly  merited  this  mark  of  confidence  by 
their  zeal  in  preaching  and  defending  the  Faith. 

As  a  prelude  to  the  long  series  of  successful  teach- 
ing by  the  Order,  Maldonat,  then  occupying  a  pro- 
fessor's chair  in  the  College  of  Clermont,  at  Paris, 
attracted  thither  a  brilliant  auditory  of  prelates,  no- 
bility, and  savants  ;  the  colleges  of  the  Society,  hardly 
opened,  were  filled  with  pupils.  "  The  Protestants 
themselves,"  says  Ranke,  "  recalled  their  sons  from 
distant  colleges  to  confide  them  to  the  Jesuits." 

Meanwhile,  Edmund  Auger  combated  the  work- 
iiigs  of  the  Calvinists  in  the  South. 

At  Valencia,  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Baron  of 
Adrets,  and  from  the  gallows,  even,  preached  with 
such  force  and  eloquence  as  to  move  his  executioners 
to  spare  his  life. 

No  sooner  is  he  released,  than  he  hastens  to  Lyons, 
where  a  contagious  malady  was  raging,  which  in  a  short 
time  carried  oft'  sixty  thousand  persons  ;  here  he  min- 
isters to  the  needs  of  the  dying  and  the  poor,  restore? 
confidence,  and  saves  the  city,  which  with  one  accord 
follows  him  to  the  feet  of  Mary.  In  all  Lyons,  Calvin 
could  not  then  have  found  a  single  partisan. 

To  this  zeal  and  devotion  the  heretics  could  only 


124 


The  Jesuits. 


oppose  violence  and  calumny,  but  they  were  sustained 
by  the  University  of  Paris,  which  had  taken  alarm  at 
such  formidable  opposition.    The  conflict  was  begun. 

The  University  endeavored  to  close  the  schools  of 
the  Jesuits,  as  some  centuries  previous  it  had  done  in 
regard  to  the  grand  Religious  Orders  who  gave  to  the 
Church  and  to  science  a  Thomas  Aquinas,  Albert 
the  Great,  and  a  Duns  Scotus. 

And  it  was  necessary  that  the  cause  of  the  Univer- 
sity should  be  indeed  compromised,  and  this  struggle 
against  free  access  to  education,  most  glaringly  un- 
reasonable, in  order  to  induce  Parliament,  to  whom 
the  affair  had  been  referred,  to  twice  decide,  all  prej- 
udiced as  it  was,  the  case  in  favor  of  the  Jesuits,  as  it 
did. 

According  to  the  testimony  of  even  BouUay  and 
Cuvier,  historians  of  the  University,  the  low  ebb 
which  education  had  reached  at  this  period  was  greatly 
to  be  regretted. 

Study  within  its  walls  was  almost  entirely  forsaken, 
and  what  was  far  more  disastrous,  the  dissolute  man- 
ners which  prevailed  had  the  effect  of  disseminating 
among  the  youth  of  the  schools,  shameless  ideas  and 
impious  doctrines. 

The  Jesuit  Colleges  opened  gratuitously  to  all,  re- 
established with  the  taste  for  literature,  zeal  for  the 
Faith,  and  practical  Christianity  ;  and  from  that  may 
be  said  of  all  these  instructors,  what  Voltaire  said  of 


France. 


125 


Father  Par^e,  that  "  he  had  the  gift  of  making  his  pupils 
love  learning  and  virtue." 

But  the  League  was  established.  This  grand  move- 
ment, legitimate  of  itself,  since  its  sole  end  was  the 
defense  of  the  almost  universal  religion  of  France 
against  certain  factions,  brought  in  its  train  numerous 
and  evil  excesses.  We  can  cite  from  a  history  at  hand, 
the  conduct  of  the  Society  throughout  this  delicate 
affair  as  a  model  of  prudence. 

Its  members  readily  admitted  the  principle  of  the 
League,  which  was  only  the  resistance  of  national 
Catholicism  to  Protestant  invasion,  but  they  strove  at 
the  same  time  to  calm  the  excess  of  passion  and 
reconcile  all  interests.  Far  from  mingling  in  the 
struggles  of  political  parties,  they  remained  from  first 
to  last  the  apostles  and  mediators  of  peace.  In  the 
provinces  their  influence  was  not  so  great,  for  the  fifty 
large  cities  which  adhered  to  the  League  did  not  con- 
iaitt  a  single  house  of  the  Jesuit  Order. 

At  Paris,  one  of  their  members,  Father  Pigenat, 
modestly  played  the  role  of  a  most  disinterested  devo- 
tion, which  had  not  even  the  encouragement  of  possi- 
ble success.  His  efforts,  as  may  be  supposed,  were  lost 
sight  of  in  the  tempestuous  tumult  and  the  fury  of  the 
"  Seize,"  which  he  had  devoted  himself  to  moderating 
as  far  as  lay  in  his  power,  rose  to  such  a  height  that, 
though  he  succeeded  in  calming  it  more  than  once,  it 
was  at  the  risk  of  his  liberty,  and  even  of  his  life. 


126 


The  Jesuits. 


Other  members  of  the  Society  accepted  a  more 
hopeful  mission,  and  entered  into  parley  with  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  for  the  promotion  of  peace. 

At  the  height  of  excitement  in  Paris,  a  few  of  the 
priests  of  the  Order,  carried  away  by  their  zeal,  began 
to  break  through  the  reserve  which  the  spirit  of  their 
Institute  enforced  ;  but  these  were  speedily  recalled  by 
the  energetic  measures  of  the  General  of  the  Society, 
Claude  Aquaviva.  "  State  to  the  King,"  he  writes  to 
the  Provincial  of  France,  "  how  strongly  our  Consti- 
tutions prohibit  our  mingling  in  temporal  affairs," 

Moreover,  he  ventured  to  make  to  Sixtus  V.,  so 
manifestly  partial  to  the  League,  the  firmest  remon- 
strances on  the  subject  of  the  necessary  neutrality  of 
the  Order. 

The  conversion  of  Henry  IV.  to  Catholicism,  how- 
ever, rendered  the  further  existence  of  the  League  su- 
perfluous. 

Bellarmine,  who  was  then  at  Paris,  being  interrogated 
on  the  legitimacy  of  the  approaching  surrender  of  the 
Capital  to  the  King,  answered  (contrary  to  the  advice 
of  the  University)  that  "  it  was  legitimate  to  ground 
arms,  and  henceforth  cease  a  struggle  without  an  ob- 
ject." 

Meantime,  at  Rome  the  Jesuits  devoted  themselves 
to  bringing  about  a  reconciliation  between  the  King  of 
France  and  the  Church,  and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact 
that  the  most  active  and  zealous  of  these  negotiators 


France. 


127 


was  an  Italian,  Father  Possevin ;  a  Spaniard,  Cardinal 
Tolet;  and  two  Frenchmen,  unjustly  banished  by  decree 
of  Parliament,  Fathers  Commolet  and  Gueret. 

The  Bearnais  proved  himself  no  ingrate.  "  My 
cousin,"  writes  Henry  IV.  to  Cardinal  Tolet,  "  I  know 
that,  after  God  and  our  Holy  Father,  I  owe  to  the 
integrity  of  your  conscience  the  Absolution  (that  is  to 
say,  the  removal  of  the  ban  of  excommunication)  that 
it  has  pleased  His  Holiness  to  grant  me." 

This  moderation  on  the  part  of  the  Jesuits,  joined  to 
their  zeal  for  the  preservation  of  the  Faith,  was  not  of  a 
nature  to  disarm  the  hate  which  already  existed  against 
them.  Their  enemies  had  been  hopeful  of  a  line  of 
conduct  more  favorable  to  their  plans  ;  disappoint- 
ment was  unanimous  in  Parliament  and  in  the  Uni- 
versity. 

By  degrees,  the  confidence  testified  in  their  regard 
by  the  Holy  See,  the  Episcopacy,  and  the  Catholic 
people,  joined  to  the  royal  favor  of  which  Henry  began 
to  lavish  many  proofs,  served  to  arouse  the  envy  of 
their  numerous  enemies.  The  same  fanatics  whose 
hands  had  armed  Poltrot,  the  murderer  of  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  and  Clement,  the  assassin  of  Henry  III.,  en- 
deavored to  involve  the  Jesuits  in  the  sentence  of 
Chastel. 

It  was  no  easy  task  to  prove  them  guilty,  supported, 
as  they  were,  by  public  esteem,  and  possessing  the 
avowed  sympathy  of  the  king.    But  public  estimation 


128 


The  Jesuits, 


is  wavering,  and  the  king  was  otherwise  much  en- 
grossed. Besides,  the  times  afford  examples  of  parlia- 
mentary intrigue  which  confound  reason  itself. 

John  Chastel  had  followed  the  course  of  the  Uni- 
versity for  ten  years  ;  he  was,  in  fact,  studying  law 
there,  under  Marcellius,  at  the  time  when  he  attempted 
the  life  of  Henry  IV.  But  he  had  formerly  attended 
the  College  of  Clermont,  for  some  months,  in  the 
quality  of  external  pupil.  This  paltry  detail  was  made 
the  pretext  for  instituting  an  examination ;  but  how  to 
follow  it  up  ?  Ah  !  Parliament  was  equal  to  the  occa- 
sion. It  sought  diligently  for  some  other  trifle  on  which 
to  build  ;  but  finding  nothing,  and  not  being,  in  truth, 
exacting  in  this  regard,  it  contented  itself  with  these 
months  of  the  criminal's  attendance  as  external  pupil 
at  the  Jesuits'  College.  "  The  Huguenots  and  Free- 
thinkers," says  the  historian  Dupleix,  "  launch  a  thou- 
sand execrations,  curses,  and  imprecations  against  the 
Jesuits,  but  neither  proof  nor  presumption  could  be 
extorted  from  the  assassin  by  the  violence  of  the 
torture." 

The  "  Etoile,"  the  enemy  of  the  Jesuits,  Sully  like- 
wise, de  Thou,  Mathieu,  Cayet,  the  "  Memoirs  of  the 
League,"  all  chroniclers,  are  unanimous  in  admitting 
that  "  Chastel  exonerated  the  Jesuits,  and  maintained 
with  his  last  breath  that  they  had  been  unjustly  sus- 
pected." 

But  to  what  purpose  I    There  was  the  fact  of  his 


France. 


129 


attendance  at  the  college.  During  those  months  the 
Jesuits  had  taught  him,  besides  the  art  of  assassination, 
the  art  of  remaining  silent.  Moreover,  why  so  much 
ceremony  about  the  affair  1  "  If  not  thee,  then  it  is 
thy  brother." 

It  was  imperative  that  the  Jesuits  be  proved  guilty, 
and  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  for  the  first  time,  covered 
itself  with  dishonor,  and  created  a  precedent  for  the 
stupendous  infamy  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Parhament,  against  all  appearances,  and  in  defiance 
even  of  good  sense,  condemned  them.  This  great 
body,  heretofore  so  worthy  in  many  respects,  but  now 
swayed  by  the  dictates  of  blind  passion,  did  not 
hesitate  at  that  most  odious  of  crimes,  judicial  assas- 
sination. 

A  harmless  old  man  who,  perhaps,  had  never  seen 
Chastel — Father  Guignard — lived  a  most  retired  life 
in  the  library  of  the  college.  He  was  arrested,  con- 
demned, and  hanged  in  the  Place  de  Greve,  guilty  of 
the  sole  crime  "  d'etre  venue  a  mauvaise  heure,^^  says 
the  "Etoile." 

Why  the  summary  judgment  and  cruel  sentence? 
Because,  replies  the  Chancellor  of  France,  Hurault  de 
Chiverny,  in  his  State  Memoirs,  "  the  enemies  of  the 
Jesuits  found,  or  perhaps  pretended  to  find,  in  the 
chamber  of  Guignard,  certain  writings  hostile  to  the 
late  king,  Henry  III." 

*'  Now,  the  Judges  who  condemned  him/'  adds  the 
9 


130 


The  Jesuits. 


"  Etoile,"  "  were  for  the  most  part  those  who  had  co- 
incided in  the  judgment  of  arrest  given  against  the  late 
king  in  1589  (five  years  previous),  which  is  a  most 
remarkable  fact." 

Remarkable  in  truth,  and  even  impossible,  if  it  were 
not  a  question  of  the  condemnation  of  a  Jesuit. 

We  have  preferred  to  cite,  in  this  instance,  the  wri- 
ters and  chronicles  hostile  to  the  Jesuits,  and  this  for  a 
very  natural  reason ;  there  is  not  an  honest  writer's 
pen  which  has  allowed  to  pass,  without  execration,  this 
act  of  repulsive  iniquity.  But  the  works  of  "  modern 
liberalism  "  afford  a  curious  study  of  the  same  facts.  I 
have  under  my  eyes  a  so-called  popular  work,  one  which 
in  certain  circles  has  gained  great  notoriety,  '"The 
History  of  Paris,"  by  Dulaure,  and  I  am  bowed  down 
with  admiration.  He  is  not  wicked  at  heart,  good  Uncle 
Dulaure  is  not ;  he  would  have  been  better  pleased 
if  they  had  not  hanged  Father  Guignard,  and  especially 
if  they  had  not  burnt  his  body  and  scattered  the  ashes 
to  the  winds,  which  appears  to  him  an  excess.  He 
slightly  bemoans  this  circumstance,  even  while  insult 
ing  the  victim  through  force  of  habit,  and  gently  cen- 
sures Parliament. 

But  he  detests  the  Jesuits  so  cordially  and  frankly. 
In  view  of  the  chaplet  of  naive  calumnies  which  he 
weaves  against  the  Jesuits  apropos  of  the  hideous  mur- 
der of  a  Jesuit,  it  is  plainly  seen  that  his  principal 
grudge  against  Parliament  has  its  origin  in  the  regret 


France. 


which  he  experiences  at  beholding  so  many  of  the 
Jesuits  aUve. 

The  paragraph  in  the  decree  which  condemns  all 
Jesuits  as  "  corrupters  of  youth  and  disturbers  of  the 
public  peace,  to  depart  within  three  days'  time  from 
Paris,"  elicits  from  him  chuckles  of  satisfaction,  and 
he  devotes,  I  know  not  how  many  8vo  pages  to  the 
description  of  the  grotesque  pillar,  *'  the  monument 
raised  to  the  shame  of  the  Jesuits,"  but  which  would 
more  likely  have  perpetuated  the  eternal  ignominy  of 
Parliament  if  Henry  IV.,  through  charity  for  his  friends, 
both  speakers  and  judges,  had  not  demolished  and 
swept  it  away. 

While  censuring  slightly  the  judicial  assassins  of 
Father  Guignard,  who,  after  all,  was  but  one  Jesuit,  the 
worthy  Dulaure  applauds  the  exile  of  five  hundred 
Jesuits,  "w^ho,  perhaps,  had  not  yet  attempted  the  life 
of  Henry  IV.,  but  who  would  eventually  poignard  him 
as  they  had  Henry  III." 

For  Ravillac  shall  be  a  Jesuit,  as  Jacques  Clement 
was  a  Jesuit,  and  all  the  assassins  of  kings,  from  Brutus 
to  Damiens,  have  been  Jesuits. 

And  this  it  is  which  forms  the  essence  of  the  dull, 
weary  refrain  set  to  the  false  air  of  a  sorry  composition 
of  Beranger's. 

But  in  the  time  of  good  Uncle  Dulaure,  people 
were  only  liberal  and  enlightened  \  the  lyric  of  the 
gutter  was  not  in  vogue.     Each  took  his  meai  of 


132 


The  Jesuits. 


Jesuit  quietly,  like  a  well-brought-up  burgher,  and  when 
he  had  finished  Father  Guignard,  remarked  with  the 
fine  irony  of  the  unbelievers  of  Yvetot :  "  If  Henry 
IV.  had  not  cajoled  the  Jesuits,  there  stood  ready  ten 
thousand  of  them  enumerated,  who  would  have  poign- 
arded  him,  each  in  turn.    It  is  a  well-known  fact." 

Ah  !  Hail  to  the  light  !  And  believe  me  when  I 
declare,  that  I  have  not  the  faintest  pretension  to  hin- 
der men  equally  "enlightened"  from  taking  the  "Al- 
manachs"  of  good  Uncle  Dulaure. 

Dulaure's  account  was  correct ;  not  content  with 
having  shed  the  blood  of  an  innocent  priest,  the  Par- 
liament expelled  the  Jesuits  from  Paris,  "not  without 
much  astonishment  and  the  regret  of  many  !  These 
upright  magistrates  then  loyally  appropriated  the  goods 
of  the  banished."  t  The  fine  and  ample  library  of  the 
Order  was  exposed  to  pillage.  The  books  were 
judged  fairly  confiscated  by  the  gentlemen  of  the 
king's  council,  who  first  accommodated  themselves 
according  to  their  conclusions. | 

"This  outrage  of  justice  committed  by  those  who 
were  its  representatives  was  not  only,"  says  Protestant 
Sismondi,  "  an  iniquitous  scandal ;  it  was  an  act  of 
extraordinarily  political  baseness." 

*  A  small  French  town  whose  inhabitants  are  famed  for 
their  stupidity. 

f  Chivcring,  '•  Memoirs  of  State,"  p.  241. 
X  L'Etoile. 


France. 


133 


It  will  be  difficult  to  make  mankind  believe,  even 
by  employing  the  eloquence  of  such  historians  as  Du- 
laure,  that  Henry  IV.  was  a  coward  ;  but  it  is  univer- 
sally admitted  that  he  had  a  soul  too  lofty  to  stoop  to 
connivance  at  such  infamy.* 

He  was  not  slow  in  making  reparation,  as  far  as  lay 
in  his  power,  for  this  bloody  injustice,  and  notwith- 
standing all  the  opposition  of  Parliament,  recalled  the 
Jesuits  with  tdat. 

In  the  month  of  September,  1603,  the  king  signed 
at  Rouen  a  Decree  which  legally  re-established  the 
Order  within  the  jurisdiction  of  several  Parliaments ; 
and  as  the  members  of  that  of  Paris,  with  the  Presi- 
dent, Achille  de  Harlay,  at  the  head,  thought  good 
to  jjresent  to  the  king  their  "  most  humble  remon- 
strances" on  this  subject,  the  king  replied  in  those 
green  and  living  words  which  certainly  breathe  no 
spirit  of  poltroonery,  "  I  am  very  thankful  to  you  for 
the  care  that  you  have  of  my  person  and  of  my 
kmgdom  ;  I  have  all  your  conceptions  in  mine,  but 
you  have  not  all  mine  in  yours.  You  believe  your- 
selves most  skillful  in  the  managing  of  State  affairs, 

*  In  1762  they  invented,  in  the  exigencies  of  the  cause,  an 
Edict  of  Henry  IV.,  of  the  7th  of  January,  1595,  which  was 
recently  quoted  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  and  the  Court. 
Proofs  exist  in  abundance  which  show  that  this  pretended 
Decree  never  existed.  (See,  among  others,  Documents  con- 
cerning the  Society  of  Jesus,  1827,  Volume  ist.) 


134 


The  Jesuits. 


but  very  often  you  know  no  more  of  them  than  do  1 
of  the  chicanery  of  the  law.  I  would,  then,  that  you 
should  know  (relative  to  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy),  that  if 
all  these  had  done  as  well  as  one  or  two  Jesuits  who 
chanced  to  be  present,  very  fortunately,  things  would 
have  gone  better  for  the  Catholics.  Since  that  time 
we  recognize,  not  their  ambition,  but  their  capacity, 
and  I  am  astonished  on  what  grounds  you  found  your 
opinion  of  the  ambition  of  persons  who  refuse  dignities 
and  prelacies  when  offered  them ;  who  make  a  vow  to 
God  never  to  accept  them,  and  who  pretend  to  noth- 
ing in  this  world  only  to  serve,  without  recompense, 
all  those  who  will  accept  their  service.  .  If  the  word 
Jesuit  displeases  you,  why  do  you  not  find  fault  with 
those  who  call  themselves  Religious  of  the  Trinity? 
....  For  my  part,  I  would  love  rather  to  be  called 
Jesuit  than  Jacobin  or  Augustin.  If  they  have  only 
been  tolerated  in  France  up  to  this  time,  God  has  re- 
served for  me  the  glory,  which  I  hold  as  a  great  grace, 
to  estabHsh  them  there ;  if  their  existence  there  has 
only  been  pro  visionary,  it  shall  henceforth  be  by  edict 
and  decree  ;  the  will  of  my  predecessors  retained  them 
there ;  my  will  shall  establish  them  there. 

"The  University  has  openly  opposed  them,  for  the 
reason  tliat  they  are  more  successful  in  teaching,  as  is 
shown  by  the  number  of  scholars  in  their  colleges,  or 
because  they  are  not  incorporated  with  the  Uni- 
versity. 


France. 


135 


You  say  that  in  your  Parliament  the  most  learned 
have  not  studied  with  them  ;  if  the  oldest  be  the  most 
learned,  this  is  true,  for  they  must  have  studied  before 
the  Jesuits  were  known  in  France ;  but  I  am  certain 
that  all  the  other  Parliaments  do  not  speak  thus,  nor 
even  all  of  your  own  ;  and,  if  they  learn  not  better  in 
their  colleges  than  elsewhere,  whence  comes  it  that 
through  their  reputation  your  University  is  deserted 
by  those  who,  notwithstanding  all  your  decrees,  seek 
them  at  Douay,  at  Pont  (at  Mousson),  and  beyond 
the  kingdom  ? 

"  To  term  the  Society  factious,  because  it  took  part 
.with  the  League,  has  been  the  insult  of  the  times. 
They  believed  themselves  right  when  they  were  mis- 
taken, like  several  others  ;*  but  I  believe  that  they 
lose  less  malice  than  the  others,  and  hold  that  the 
same  conscientiousness,  joined  to  the  favors  I  have 
done  them,  binds  them  as  affectionately,  and  even 
more  so,  to  me  than  to  the  League. 

"  They  attract,  you  say,  the  youths  who  possess  good 
parts,  and  choose  the  best  among  them  ;  for  this  I 
esteem  them.  Do  not  we  make  choice  of  the  best 
soldiers  for  the  war  ?  And  if  interest  were  unknown 
among  you,  would  you  receive  any  who  was  not  worthy 
of  your  company,  or  to  serve  in  your  Parliament  ?  If 


*  One  can  hardly  expect  Henry  IV.  to  ;ipprove  of  the 
League. 


136 


The  Jesuits. 


they  furnish  you  with  ignorant  preceptors  or  preachers, 
you  will  despise  them  ;  they  are  possessed  of  fine 
minds,  and  you  find  fault  with  them.  As  for  the  wealth 
which  you  say  they  possess,  it  is  a  calumny  ;  in  all 
France  they  have  not  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen 
thousand  crowns  revenue  altogether.  The  vow  which 
they  make  to  the  Pope  is  not  binding  in  all  things. 

They  are  bound  to  obey  the  Popes  only  when  the 
Pontiffs  wish  to  employ  them  to  convert  the  infidels, 
and,  in  fact,  it  is  through  them  that  God  has  converted 
the  Indies,  You  say  that  they  enter  as  thev  best  can, 
so  also  do  others  and  myself  enter  into  my  kingdom  as 
best  I  could ;  but  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  their 
patience  is  grand,  and  commands  my  admiration,  for 
with  patience  and  holy  living  they  accomplish  all 
things.  And  I  esteem  them  none  the  less  for  being,  as 
you  say,  great  observers  of  their  Institute ;  this  is  what 
sustains  them.  Touching  their  opinions  of  the  Pope, 
I  know  that  they  respect  him  highly,  as  I  also  do.  As 
for  the  doctrine  of  emancipating  the  ecclesiastics  from 
my  authority,  and  teaching  the  murder  of  kings,  it  is 
necessary  to  see  on  their  side  what  they  say,  and  inform 
ourselves  if  it  is  true  that  they  teach  their  youth  this. 
One  circumstance  makes  me  believe  that  this  is  not 
true.  During  the  thirty  years  that  they  have  taught 
the  youth  of  France,  one  hundred  thousand  scholars 
of  all  conditions  have  come  from  colleges,  having 
lived  among  them  as  of  them,  and  there  can  not  be 


France. 


137 


found  a  single  one  of  this  great  number  to  affirm  hav> 
ing  heard  such  language,  nor  anything  akin  to  it,  to  give 
rise  to  these  reproaches. 

"As  to  Barriere,  so  far  from  a  Jesuit  having  con- 
fessed him,  as  you  affirm,  I  was  warned  by  a  Jesuit  of 
his  intention,  and  another  told  him  he  would  be  damn- 
ed if  he  dared  to  undertake  it. 

"And  as  for  Chastel,  the  torture  could  not  wring  from 
him  any  accusation  against  Varade,  or  any  Jesuit  what- 
ever ;  if  otherwise,  why  did  your  spare  them  ?  For  the 
one  who  was  executed  was  found  guilty  on  another 
charge,  that  which  was  said  to  be  found  in  his  writings. 
But  even  if  one  Jesuit  has  directed  the  blow,  must  all 
the  apostles  suffer  for  the  crime  of  Judas,  or  myself  be- 
come answerable  for  all  the  thefts  and  crimes  which 
shall  be  done  in  the  future  by  those  who  shall  be  my 
soldiers  ? 

"  If  a  Spanish  Jesuit  and  Cardinal,  Father  Tolet,  as- 
sists me  to  obtain  the  benediction  of  the  Holy  Father 
when  I  become  a  Catholic,  why  should  you  disparage 
the  French,  my  natural  subjects  ?  I  would  know 
those  whom  I  would  judge,  and  I  would  impart  to 
them  what  I  wish  ;  leave  me  the  management  and  di- 
rection of  this  Society  ;  I  have  managed  and  governed 
more  difficult  things,  and  less  easy  to  conduct ;  obey 
only  my  will." 

We  have  produced  ^t  length  these  words  of  a  king 
so  often  assassinated  by  the  Jesuits,  not  only  in  defense 


138 


TJie  Jesuits. 


of  the  Jesuits  who  have  been  long  since  absolved  of 
the  charges  in  question,  but  also  in  homage  to  an  au- 
gust writer  who,  at  the  distance  of  half  a  century  from 
Bossuet,  Pascal,  or  Labujere,  expresses  himself  in 
such  pure,  clear,  vigorous  French. 

Never  has  the  mask  been  plucked  from  the  face  of 
calumny  with  a  more  forcible  gesture.  The  speech 
reveals  at  once  a  lofty  style  and  a  grand  heart. 

It  commanded  obedience,  and  the  Edict  of  Rouen, 
notwithstanding  the  manifestations  of  ill-will,  was  reg- 
istered in  ParUament  on  the  fourth  of  January,  1604. 

Henry  did  not  pause  here.  In  a  thousand  ways  he 
testified  his  esteem,  his  gratitude,  and  his  affection  for 
the  members  of  the  Society.  And  it  would  be  difficult 
indeed  to  reconcile  with  the  idea  of  his  alleged  dread 
of  them,  the  favor  which  he  carried  to  the  extent  of 
establishing  them  in  his  own  "Maison  de  la  Fleche," 
of  giving  his  utmost  confidence  to  the  famous  and 
learned  Father  Coton,  and  finally,  which  passes  the 
limits  of  all  probability  in  regard  to  cowardice,  of  be- 
queathing to  them  by  will  his  heart,  as  a  last  proof  of 
that  tender  regard  which  drew  from  him  the  avowal : 
"  I  have  loved  you  since  I  have  known  you." 

Louis  XIII.,  following  in  the  path  of  his  father,  took 
the  entire  Order  under  his  protection  and  safeguard, 
as  the  late  king  had  been  pleased  to  do  ; "  he  confirmed 
the  right  of  teaching  which  had  been  granted  them  by 


France. 


139 


Henry  IV.,  and  recommended  them  to  the  Protestant 
Princes  of  Germany  "  as  men  of  lofty,  great  piety,  and 
immense  prudence."  In  1627  he  came  with  Riche- 
lieu to  lay  the  corner-stone  of  their  church  in  the  Fau- 
bourg St.  Antoine  ;*  in  short,  the  royal  protection  and 
public  favor  defended  them  so  effectually  against  the 
pitiful  jealousies  and  hatred  of  their  opponents,  that 
during  this  single  year  the  number  of  their  pupils  in 
the  province  of  Paris  alone  amounted  to  thirteen 
thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-five. 

What  think  you  of  times  of  darkness,  in  which  the 
desire  of  knowledge  was  so  universally  spread  ? 

And  what  think  you  of  these  ignorant,  these  ob- 
scurers  "  taking  the  first  rank  in  all  branches  of  science, 
and  vanquishing  the  leaders  of  the  Reformation  at  ev-- 
ery  passage  at  arms,  whether  religious,  moral,  or  philo- 
sophical ?  Whose  radiance  will  dim  the  light  of  a 
Bellarmin  or  a  Tolet  ?  Does  this  epoch  furnish  an 
o  ator  of  more  winning  eloquence  than  Canisius  ? 
Any  sounder  theologian  than  Molina,  so  much  and  so 
vilely  misrepresented  ?  Molina  maintained  the  liberty 
of  man  under  the  infinite  power  of  the  Almighty. 

Such  a  generous  belief  as  this  sufficed  to  rouse 
against  his  doctrine  those  who  would  fain  teach  God, 


*  Founded,  according  to  the  promise  of  St.  Ignatius,  in  the 
same  spot  where  was  made  by  the  Protestants,  the  first  sac- 
rilegious attempt  against  the  Images  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 


140 


The  Jesuits, 


as  well  as  those  false  rigorists  who  weight  at  will  the 
yoke  of  God,  until  they  render  it  insupportable.  Judas 
has  diverse  fashions  of  betraying  his  Master. 

Can  a  grander  doctrine  be  cited  than  that  of  Suarez, 
of  whom  Bossuet  said,  "  In  him  is  contained  the  entire 
school " ? 

I  have  no  intention  of  here  narrating  the  services 
rendered  to  intelligence  by  the  Institute  of  the  Jesuits ; 
such  a  proceeding  would  take  too  much  space ;  but  I 
can  not  pass  over  in  silence  the  gigantic  work  of 
the  Benedictine,  Jean  Bolland,  the  "  Acta  Sanc- 
torum," so  popular  in  science  under  the  name  of 
"  The  BoUandists,"  and  which  Leibnitz  termed  a  Chris- 
tian Encyclopedia.  Labbe  and  Sirmond  flourished  at 
that  period,  and  Petau  was  the  oracle  of  learned  Europe. 

Aquarira  governed  the  Order.  Later,  D'Alembert 
passed  a  panegyric  on  this  General,  which  makes  one 
imagine  that  he  ranks  him  above  Ignatius  himself. 
The  Society  possessed  five  hundred  and  fifty  houses, 
and  had  branches  in  thirty-three  provinces,  possessing 
upward  of  twelve  thousand  Religious. 

Owing  to  the  researches  of  Father  d' Eckel,  a  great 
advance  was  made  in  Numismatics ;  the  Jesuits  com- 
posed grammars  and  lexicons,  of  nearly  one  hundred 
languages  and  idioms ;  among  which  may  be  enumer- 
ated the  Basque  and  the  Low-Breton,  the  Hungarian 
and  the  Turkish,  the  Persian,  the  Japanese,  and  the 
Chinese,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  savage  idioms. 


France, 


141 


Father  Lanzi  discovered  the  Etruscan  language ; 
two  other  Jesuits,  Ernest  Hanxleden  and  Jean  Pons, 
revealed  to  the  learned  world  the  mysteries  of  Sans- 
crit and  of  Telenga.  Father  Bouvet  brought  into 
France  the  forty-nine  volumes  in  the  Chinese  tongue, 
which  were  the  origin  of  the  present  collection  of  the 
National  Library.  Finally,  that  universal  genius,  Kir- 
cher,  had  furthered  more  than  our  Champollion  the 
study  of  Egyptian  hieroglyphics. 

As  for  the  Jesuit  astronomers,  mathematicians,  min- 
eralogists, naturalists,  geographers,  inventors,  they  are 
simply  innumerable. 

On  this  subject,  the  "History  of  Mathematics,"  by 
Montuela,  the  "Astronomical  Bibliography"  of  La- 
lande,  and  the  "  History  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,"  by 
Cretineau-Joly,  may  be  consulted.  I  will  merely  cite 
foff  the  curiosity  of  inventors,  victims  of  ".SzV  vos 
mn  vobis^^  the  instance  of  Father  Lana-Terzi,  born 
in  1 63 1,  who  discovered  Aerostation,  and  another 
Jesuit,  a  Portuguese  missionary  to  Brazil,  Barthelemy 
de  Gusmao,  who  a  century  later  made  the  first  pubHc 
experiment  of  what  is  called  a  Montgolfier,  long  be- 
fore Montgolfier  lived.  The  same  Lana  invented  the 
drill-plough,  of  which  Tall  in  1733  proclaimed  himself 
the  inventor. 

Not  only  are  we  indebted  to  the  Jesuits  for  that 
proud  flower,  the  Camellia,  and  the  celebrated  drug 
known  as  the  Peruvian  Bark,  but  also  for  the  gem  of 


142 


The  Jesuits. 


our  gardens,  the  spreading  horse-chestnut.  But  in  the 
contemplation  of  these  smaller  things,  we  must  not 
lose  sight  of  their  great  services. 

When  royal  absolutism  attempted  to  establish  itself 
as  a  dogma  in  France,  and  especially  in  England,  the 
Jesuits,  with  Bellarmine  and  Suarez  at  their  head,  de- 
fended the  right  of  the  people,  again  demonstrating 
to  the  world  that  the  grand  law  of  obedience,  insti- 
tuted by  Ignatius,  was  far  from  excluding  the  idea  of 
freedom.  Certain  it  is  that  Pascal,  to  whom  we  have  at 
length  come,  never  turned  his  weapons  on  such  men 
as  these  ;  he  omitted  to  touch,  though  ever  so  lightly, 
upon  Suarez,  Canesius,  Possevin,  Petau,  Solet,  or  Bellar- 
mine ;  nor,  truth  to  tell,  on  any  one  ;  for  the  perpetual 
fool,  the  idiotic  and  distorted  manikin  of  a  Jesuit 
which  he  fabricates,  to  scoff  at  and  deride  at  his  pleas- 
ure, is  Nobody. 

If,  for  instance,  when  bringing  before  the  world  the 
case  of  the  Jesuits  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
name  of  Bourdaloue,  immortal  honor  of  the  French 
pulpit,  should  be  carefully  eschewed,  it  would  not  dim 
in  the  least  the  radiance  of  that  of  Francis  Regis,  the 
radiant  apostle  of  charity. 

They  may  be  numbered  by  the  hundredfold,  these 
great  Jesuits ;  history  is  replete  with  their  names. 
Did  Pascal  not  know  of  them  ?  Or  did  he  despise 
them  ? 

Had  Pascal,  who  won  so  easily  his  amusing  tri- 


France, 


143 


umphs,  by  furnishing  those  inventions  of  insult,  spiced 
even  to  indecency,  and  attaching  to  them  the  humble 
names  of  some  obscure  Religious,  never  heard  those 
names  which  had  resounded  throughout  Europe  ? 

There  is  none  so  deaf  as  he  who  will  not  hear  ; 
and  he  who  employs  his  own  hands  to  bandage  his 
eyes  is  blind  to  all  save  a  faint  glimmer. 

There  is  a  legend  of  the  time  of  Francis  Regis 
which  relates  that,  entering  on  a  certain  Sunday 
an  inn,  where  some  gay  revelers  had  chosen  the  hour 
of  high  mass  for  their  debauch,  he  attempted  to  preach 
to  them. 

They  laughed  at  him  ;  a  proceeding  which  the 
austere  Pascal  would  not  have  approved,  still  less  the 
brutal  act  of  one  of  the  young  men,  who  gave  the  saint 
a  blow. 

But  what  of  the  blows  of  the  Provinciales,"  who 
have  not  even  the  wine  of  the  inn  to  plead  in  excuse  ? 

Regis  said  to  him  who  struck  him  :  "  I  thank  you, 
my  brother ;  I  have  merited  worse  treatment ;  but 
consider  your  soul." 

Note  well !  Themistocles  had  acted  almost  similarly  ; 
and  it  is  his  glory ;  but  this  constitutes  the  difference  : 
Themistocles  was  a  practical  hero,  whilst  the  saint's 
action  affords  only  a  pretext  for  abuse. 

What  happens  ?  The  unhappy  young  men,  although 
intoxicated,  threw  themselves  at  the  saint's  feet  and 
begged  pardon. 


144 


The  Jesuits. 


Behold  the  first  step  toward  a  good  life  !  Jesuits  ! 
Troublesome  ones  to  deal  with  !  In  the  position  of 
Francis  Regis,  a  hearty,  honest  fellow  would  have  re- 
turned the  blow,  crying  quits,  and  without  rancor. 
Such  is  the  nature  of  Yvetot.  The  God  of  these 
worthy  people  exacts  no  more.  Well,  a  little  indul- 
gence ! 

As  for  me,  I  willingly  incline  toward  the  side  of  in- 
dulgence, and  singular  to  relate,  so  do  the  Jesuits  ; 
but  it  is  Pascal  who  will  not.  Ah,  Pascal  was  no 
hearty,  honest  opponent ;  no  more  than  were  the 
Arnaulds,  his  patrons,  sincere  comrades  of  such. 

Indulgence  !  The  Jansenists  !  Why,  the  very  words 
shriek  their  protest  against  being  used  together !  Sooner 
would  the  Jansenists  enlarge  hell  !  Assuredly,  no 
one  can  accuse  them  of  offering  the  other  cheek  for  a 
blow  ;  they  would  resent  the  assault  with  the  club,  and 
their  indignation  against  the  Jesuits  took  root  in  the 
indulgence  of  the  Jesuits. 

Francis  Regis,  that  angel  of  purity,  was,  to  them,  a 
being  of  "  lax  morals  "  and  "  weak  devotion,"  he  who 
fell  dead  under  his  cross  ! 

God  defend  me  from  denouncing,  or  even  judg- 
ing, the  conscience  of  Pascal,  of  whose  writings  cer- 
tain pages  learnt  by  heart  in  my  youthful  days  are 
still  embalmed  in  memory.  He  had  the  great  style  of 
a  great  mind,  and  than  many  passages  of  his  I  know 
uothing  more  beautiful. 


France. 


145 


In  the  "  Provinciales  "  even,  so  unworthy  of  his 
genius,  there  are  admirable  things,  but  what  poison 
mingles  with  the  success  !  and  to  what  depths  can  the 
vainglory  of  success  debase  a  proud  soul ! 

The  first  intoxication  of  Pascal  was  induced  by 
the  astonishment  of  the  Arnaulds,  who  were  amazed 
at  nothing ;  and  by  their  admiration  of  him,  they  who 
admired  nobody,  seeming  unimpressible. 

The  Arnaulds  had  essayed  a  pamphlet ;  they  were 
celebrated  for  the  unvarying  dullness  which  was  dis- 
tilled from  their  pens. 

This  particular  one  had  been  the  work  of  several 
Arnaulds,  and  they  had  finally  brought  forth  some- 
thing so  awfully  dull,  as  to  terrify  themselves  and 
Pascal  also. 

Pascal  carried  the  manuscript  to  his  study ;  he 
corrected  it,  or  rather  wrote  something  new. 

The  Arnaulds  asked  to  see  it ;  Pascal  read,  and 
the  Arnaulds,  brought  face  to  face  with  whatever  he 
had  retained  of  their  ideas,  so  brilliantly  and  trench- 
antly expressed,  henceforth  publicly  bowed  down  be- 
fore him. 

The  astonishment  of  the  Arnaulds  at  finding  the 
solitary  Pascal  more  efficient  than  the  combined  Ar- 
laulds,  was  loudly  expressed. 

And  nothing  is  so  flattering  as  the  tribute  of  aston- 
ishment, extorted  from  the  innocent  pride  of  one's 
masters. 

10 


146 


The  Jesuits. 


Pascal  had  accepted  the  Arnaulds  as  his  masters, 
and  I  deem  it  only  fair  to  state  here  that  all  the  Ar- 
naulds were  not  called  by  that  name. 

Their  name  was  legion  ;  they  were  a  convent  of 
close-cropped  Calvinistic  fathers ;  they  were  a  clan,  a 
camp  ;  they  were  Port-Royal. 

Pascal  was  caught  at  once  by  this  astonishment, 
which  became  a  veritable  family  ovation. 

The  "  Provinciales "  sprang  into  existence  ;  that 
Protestantism,  convoked  by  Jansenius,  to  empoi- 
son Faith  by  disturbing  its  dogmas ;  morality,  in  de- 
nying free-will  to  man ;  and  the  practice  of  religion, 
by  substituting  in  place  of  charity  a  pharisaical  rigor, 
had  gained  its  apostle,  greater  far  than  it  had  dared  to 
hope  for  ! 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  in  all  things  aston- 
ishment is  the  half  of  success.  The  success  of  the 
"Provinciales"  was  enormous,  because  it  amazed  the 
public  more  than  the  Arnauld  faction  had  done.  Did 
it  satisfy  Pascal  ? 

Did  he  who  had  allowed  to  ascend  from  his  heart 
those  transports  of  ardent  love,  find  in  the  same  heart 
an  equal  treasure  of  wicked  and  sluggish  hate  ?  It  is 
a  curious  question. 

And  Pascal,  the  great  Pascal,  the  gloomy,  to  sud- 
denly become  facetious  and  anmsing  ! 

The  grave  Pascal  cutting  capers  in  the  dress  of  a 
pamphleteer  !    Ah  !  it  was  rich  ;  and,  as  was  just, 


France, 


H7 


won  for  him  more  applause  from  his  enemies  than 
from  his  friends. 

Did  he  need  that,  however  ?  And  would  not  some 
meaner  or  greater  among  the  Arnanlds  have  sufficed 
to  serve  up  Aristides  to  the  appetites  of  the  Athenians  ? 

I  have  said  that  Jansenism  was  only  Calvinism 
disguised  ;  I  add,  badly  disguised  ;  the  same  error  was 
there  with  increased  falsehood.  The  Abbe  of  Saint- 
Cyran  said  indignantly  to  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul,  in 
speaking  of  Calvin,  "  Be7ie  semif,  male  loaitus  est 
"  He  thought  well;  he  spoke  badly." 

The  Arnauld  party,  who  had  assumed  the  role  of 
traducing  Calvin  in  a  pseudo-orthodox  language,  had 
long  been  Calvinistic,  and  remained  at  heart  Calvin- 
istic ;  Port-Royal,  while  disguising  its  own  colors, 
accused  the  Jesuits  of  hypocrisy.  Such  is  the  per- 
petual tactic  of  falsehood. 

This  explains  the  struggle  entered  into  by  the  So- 
ciety of  Jesus  and  the  new  sect.  The  Jesuits  com- 
bated with  energy ;  it  was  a  question  of  vital  interest, 
both  for  the  Church  and  for  France.  Menaced  with 
the  anathema  of  the  Holy  See,  distrusted  by  those  in 
power,  yet  openly  embraced  or  secretly  favored  by 
|many  members  of  the  Parliament  and  University,  the 
gansenist  heresy,  powerless  to  defend  its  own  too  glar, 
ing  faults,  found  means,  thanks  to  the  pen  of  Pascal, 
to  attribute  imaginary  ones  to  the  Jesuits.  The  "  Pro- 
vinciales"  was  a  mere  diversion,  rendered  potent  by 


148 


The  Jesuits. 


the  personality  of  its  author.  Why  did  not  the  Jesuits 
respond  in  the  same  tone  ?  In  the  first  place,  they 
had  no  Pascal.  But  even  had  they  possessed  a  Pascal, 
they  would  have  blunted  the  too  sharp  edge  of  his  pen. 

I  smile  at  the  thought  of  all  the  smiles  which  will 
greet  my  assertion.  Not  only  would  the  Jesuits  have 
refused  to  furnish  their  Pascal  with  the  abundance  of 
false  or  mutilated  texts  which  adorn  the  "  Provin- 
ciales,"  but  also  would  have  said  to  him,"  Pardon," 
like  St.  Francis  Regis,  "  remember  the  words  of  I-oy- 
ola,  *  strike  not ! '  "  The  advocate  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  is  prevented  from  striking,  for  it  bears  the  name 
of  Him  who  said  to  his  apostles:  "  Odio  erites  omni- 
bus propter  nofuen  meiimr  * 

"  We  are  the  sons  of  Jesus,  and  as  far  as  man  can 
accomplish  so  grand  a  duty,  we  will  pay  in  love  all  the 
outrages  of  hate." 

Louis  XIV.  !  Great  monarch  ;  still  greater  person- 
ality, who  filled  a  mighty  age  ! 

Each  of  the  elements  which  composed  this  glory  is 
in  itself  grand,  and  sufficient  to  illuminate  an  age  ; 
with  those  blocks,  precious  in  the  material,  gigantic  in 
the  mass,  a  Pantheon  was  constructed,  of  regular  and 
square  proportions,  in  exact  correspondence  to  those 
of  the  monarch,  illuminated  by  the  light  of  the  mon- 


"  You  shall  be  hated  because  of  my  name." 


France. 


149 


arch,  made  for  the  monarch,  by  the  monarch,  like  unto 
the  monarch ;  of  a  kind  which  makes  one  ask,  at  view 
of  the  monument,  most  imposing  in  its  symmetry,  but 
drawn  in  such  rigorous  Hues,  though  tame,  as  to  fatigue 
the  eye,  how  the  royal  architect  contrived  to  smooth 
away  so  many  grand  projections  ? 

With  nothing,  at  the  moment  when  death  surprised 
him,  Henry  the  Great  had  reared  a  mountain  ;  with 
mountains,  Louis  the  Great  constructed  a  fair  and  reg- 
ular colonnade  on  level  earth.  He  found  that  high 
enough,  and,  alas  !  mounted  no  higher. 

From  the  ashes  of  Henry  IV.  arose  a  power  which 
bore  the  name  of  Richelieu.  On  the  scarcely  closed 
sepulchre  of  Louis  XIV.,  his  testament  was  destroyed. 

Bossuet,  Corneille,  Bourdaloue,  Racine,  Conde,  and 
Turenne,  gave  place  to  the  atheistical  "  convives  "  of 
Phillipe  de  Orleans,  the  "  sweet  heart,"  and  amiable 
character  of  his  admirers,  who  renders  between  two 
'■^ peiis-soupersl'  the  first  oracles  of  the  religion  of 
Voltaire. 

I  will  say  little  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  Perhaps 
I  do  not  appreciate,  at  its  just  value,  the  grand  role 
which  the  Jesuits  played  therein.  My  opinion  is  faulty, 
no  doubt,  when  I  assert  that  here  is  not  the  glory  which 
I  love. 

I  merely  say  of  this  reign,  that  it  was  not  reserved  for 
our  times  to  invent  violent  opposition  to  the  Holy  See. 
Do  not  doubt  for  a  moment,  that  at  the  time  of  which 


The  Jesnits. 


I  write,  the  germ  of  the  Revolution  was  already  in  the 
bosom  of  absolutism.  He  who  is  accused  of  having 
one  day  said,  "  1  am  the  State  ! "  if  he  said  it  on  the 
day  when  he  uttered  it,  invoked  the  thunderbolt. 

The  Jesuits  had  the  perilous  honor  of  furnishing  a 
confessor  to  Louis  XIV. ;  it  must  have  been  but  a 
thankless  office.  One  can  picture  only  embarrassment 
of  the  guardians  of  this  conscience,  at  once  so  vast  and 
so  narrow,  which  thought  to  ennoble  sin  by  clothing  it 
in  the  robes  of  etiquette,  and  dignify  scandal  by  lend- 
ing it  the  allurements  of  majesty. 

It  is  true  that  the  monarch  showed  a  really  great 
spirit  in  misfortune,  and  it  was  then  that  the  influence 
of  these  holy  men  made  itself  felt. 

He  justly  stands  out  glorious  in  history  for  having 
possessed,  by  the  bounty  of  Providence,  a  soul  suffi- 
cient to  inspire  a  throng  of  geniuses ;  but  I  am  one  of 
those  who  can  not  pardon  his  having  ceremoniously, 
solemnly,  almost  religiously,  steeped  in  the  solvent  of 
illegitimacy  the  robust  wood  of  the  legitimate  throne, 
making  it  decay,  piece  by  piece,  until  less  than  a  cen- 
tury after  it  should  fall  under  the  chaste  holiness  of 
Louis  XVI. 

Still  less  will  I  linger  at  the  Regency,  the  immediate 
chastisement  of  the  faults  of  Louis  XIV. 

As  for  Louis  XV.,  whose  death  was  as  ignoble  as 
the  lives  of  his  ancestors  had  been  glorious,  we  must 
pause,  perforce,  at  his  reign,  which  witnesses  the 


France. 


league  of  kings,  ministers,  parliaments,  courtesans, 
and  philosophers,  definitely  inaugurate  the  siege 
against  the  Society  of  Jesus,  the  advance  work  of  the 
fortifications  of  the  Church,  and  carry  it  in  the  fury  of 
a  general  assault. 

This  war,  one  may  say,  originated  with  the  birth  of 
the  Order. 

All  revolt,  sensualism,  doubt,  incredulity,  heresy 
especially,  patent  or  disguised,  held  in  abhorrence 
these  unparalleled  defenders  of  orthodox  truth,  obedi- 
ence and  pure  spirituality. 

They  marred  the  play  of  the  gloomy  comedians  of 
parliamentarianism  even  more  effectually  than  they 
opposed  the  effort  of  the  open  rebels  of  the  pretended 
philosophy,  and,  unquestionably,  the  hate  of  the 
avowed  Protestants  against  them  was  far  less  enven- 
omed than  the  sullen  rage  smoldering  in  the  hypo- 
critical hearts  of  the  perpetually  masked  offspring  of 
Jansenius ;  those  even  whom  Moliere  has  held  up  to 
view  in  Tartufe." 

Now,  these  false  apostles,  whose  crime  and  whose 
misfortune  was,  to  set  at  defiance,  like  Judas,  the 
Infinite  Good,  and  to  cry  out  scandal,  when  they 
saw  the  entire  vase  of  precious  ointment  poured  over  the 
feet  of  Jesus,  stood  thick  about  the  throne.  Through- 
out the  oratories  of  the  Court,  of  Parliament,  and  even 
among  the  clergy — for  Cardinal  de  Noailles  had  his 
numerous  adherents  —  might  be  found  the  crucifixes 


152 


The  JesuHs. 


bearing  our  Lord  represented  with  upraised  instead  of 
extended  arms,  thus  giving  semblance  to  the  blasphe- 
mous calumny  attributed  to  Saint  Augustine,  by  the 
Abbe  of  Saint  Cyran,  namely,  that  "Jesus  did  not 
die  for  all,  but  for  a  small  number." 

Jesus  !  Love  !  immense,  absolute  charity  !  narrow- 
ing Thy  benevolence,  and  limiting  Thy  mercy  ! 

The  Son  of  the  Almighty  God,  Father  of  Truth,  of 
unalloyed  justice,  making  a  choice  and  diminishing 
the  divine  breadth  of  His  embrace,  to  clasp  within  it  the 
least  worthy  hearts  !  Madness  of  Bourgeois  pride  ! 
Insanity  of  Oligarchical  pretensions  ! 

For  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  the  cursory  remark  that 
the  most  determined  party,  in  point  of  aristocracy,  is 
precisely  that  which  engenders  every  revolution,  the 
party  of  the  ''Arnaulds  "  the  terrible  brood  of  "  doc- 
trinaires "  and  the  men  of  the  juste  milieu,''  enemy 
to  all  above  it,  and  to  all  beneath  it ;  demolishing  with 
one  hand,  oppressing  with -the  other,  and  periodically 
losing  its  self-control,  so  far  as  to  give  free  rein  to  the 
evil  passions  of  the  lower  against  the  upper  classes ;  a 
nice  speculation  by  which  it  has  existed  during  the 
last  century  and  a  half,  but  of  which  the  country  is 
dying. 

The  so-called  authority  of  the  court  lowered  its 
standard,  and  gradually  fell  into  contempt. 


*  Leaders  of  the  Jansenist  party  in  France. 


France. 


153 


The  Regency  had  given  to  the  world  a  fantastic 
poem  on  the  faults  of  Louis  XIV.,  couched  in  most 
obscene  language.  From  that  tainted  spot,  the  Palais- 
Royal,  fountain-head  of  the  sparkling  wit,  from  whence 
escaped  ever  an  echo  of  the  atheistical  refrain,  a 
wind  of  contagion  swept  over  Europe,  and  the  child- 
hood of  Louis  XV.  had  been  passed  in  this  pestilential 
atmosphere.  France  took  the  lead  in  this  course  of 
royal  debasement,  and  all  the  other  courts  followed 
their  leader,  marching  and  stumbling  in  the  same  rut. 

One  single  sovereign  remained  an  exception — Maria 
Theresa ;  as  her  interests  were  not  those  of  France, 
she  could  regard  with  contented  eye  the  descendant  of 
the  great  enemy  of  the  House  of  Austria,  the  heir  of 
Henry  IV.,  swept  along  by  the  current,  a  waif  on 
the  gulf  where  menaced  unknown  dangers. 

When  the  Due  de  Choiseul  assumed  the  direction 
of  State  affairs,  it  was  said,  for  the  first  time  since  the 
foundation  of  our  Monarchy,  that  a  French  Minister 
received  the  pension  of  the  stranger,  and  those  who 
said  it,  added,  that  the  pension  was  paid  by  Austria. 
However,  Prussia  paid  some  substantial  pensions  too, 
and  the  proverb,  "  to  work  for  the  King  of  Prussia," 
had  its  birth  in  those  times  when  the  Duke,  a  Peer 
and  Marshal  of  France,  built  himself  a  dwelling  with 
money  which  caused  the  house  to  retain  the  name  of 
the  "  Pavilion  of  Hanover." 

But  that  the  level  of  patriotic  pride  could  still  fall 


154 


The  Jesuits. 


lower,  was  proven,  when  in  our  midst,  at  Paris,  a  man, 
an  illustrious  writer,  the  idol  of  the  people,  addressed 
publicly,  in  time  of  war,  flatteries  to  the  Prussian,  and 
lost  nothing  of  his  popularity ;  but  the  contrary. 

It  was  the  fashion  among  the  poets  to  draw  our 
Generals  on  the  hurdle,  while  twining,  though  not  gratis 
to  be  sure,  garlands  for  the  victor  of  Rosbach.  And 
were  these  poets  Jesuits  ?  Even  Rome  herself  felt 
for  a  time  the  pall  which  lowered,  over  the  world  at 
this  period.  And  what  wonder  !  Throughout  the 
ages  a  prophetic  spirit  has  hovered  about  the  Chair  of 
Saint  Peter,  and  the  presentiment  of  that  convulsion 
which  was  to  agitate  the  world,  certainly  afflicted  in 
advance  the  saddened  hearts  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff's. 
With  the  clear  eye  of  faith  they  saw  that  which  had 
been  the  pride  of  the  great  European  fauiily  especially 
tottering  to  its  fall,  and  the  prostrate  Church  sorrow- 
fully regarded  the  flood  of  ignominy  which  rose  high 
about  the  thrones  before  overwhelming  them. 

One  day  Madame  de  Pompadour,  that  female  Me- 
ceanas  of  the  philosophy  which  threw  men  into  the 
Bastile  for  a  witticism,  and  left  them  there  ruthlessly  to 
scratch  its  stones  with  their  nails,  until  her  death,  and 
even  after  it ;  she  who  aided  M.  de  Choiseul  to  betray 
Montcalm  in  Canada,  and  to  persecute  Dupleix  in 
India,  previous  to  killing  La  Bourdonnais  by  grief, 
and  Lally-Tolendai  by  the  axe;  but  a  most  chairaing 


France. 


woman,  except  for  these  little  instances,  ot'ierwise, 
who  protected  the  PYee-thinkers,  and  permitted  some 
madrigals  on  the  part  of  Voltaire,  in  moments  of  good 
humor — one  day  conceived  the  startling  idea  of  receiv- 
ing the  Blessed  Sacrament  at  Easter. 

Why?  None  can  answer  with  certainty.  Some 
pretend  that  this  fancy  originated  with  the  king, 
who  still  retained  at  the  depths  of  his  sad  life  a  leaven 
of  "  superstition." 

Certain  it  is,  however,  that  Madame  de  Pompa- 
dour, pardoning  God,  resolved  to  receive  him  once 
more,  but  without  ceremony,  in  nonchalant  fashion. 
As  for  purifying  her  conscience  (on  this  subject,  M.  de 
Richelieu  having  in  mind,  no  doubt,  the  Augean 
stables,  asks,  "  But,  how  ?  Hercules  is  dead,")  there 
was  no  question ;  no  other  way  of  doing  it  save  that 
of  abandoning  her  charge,  who  was  worth  in  emolu- 
ments the  trade  of  M.  de  Choiseul. 

She  informed  herself  of  the  ways  and  means  to  be 
taken  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  conclusion  of  "  the  af- 
fair," which,  according  to  her,  would  redound  to  the 
advantage  of  religion.  Women  of  this  sort  are  ever 
surrounded  by  the  most  vile  category  of  flatterers, 
each  one  of  whom  affirms  that  the  obsequiousness  is  on 
her  side,  since  she  can  do  without  God,  and  that  God 
will  only  be  too  happy  to  enter  into  the  good  graces  of 
a  person  of  such  importance.  "  The  priests,"  say  they, 
"  exact  so-and-so  from  a  new-comer ;  but  they  under- 


156 


The  Jesuits, 


stand  very  well  that  Madame  de  Pompadour,  the  cousin 
of  Maria  Theresa  of  Austria,  and  the  patron  of  M. 
de  Choiseul,  can  not  be  treated  as  a  simple  princess 
of  the  blood.  State  your  conditions — they  are  ac- 
cepted in  advance." 

And  note  how  much  nearer  to  the  grand  and  mer- 
ciful truth  was  the  unbridled  flattery  of  these  cour- 
tiers than  even  she  supposed.  The  crucifix  widely 
extends  its  arms.  If  Antoinette,  wife  of  Detiolles, 
Marquise  de  Pompadour,  Princess  de  Neufchatel,  a 
creature,  shameful  even  amongst  the  most  shameless 
of  this  ignoble  epoch,  had  discovered  only  one  atom 
of  repentance  within  her  heart,  the  arms  of  this  im- 
mense Love  would  have  closed  to  gather  it  to  Itself, 
and  cherish  her  repentance.  And  thus,  as  certainly  as 
gospel,  would  have  been  verified  the  burlesque  affir- 
mations of  the  court-parrots  :  God  was  happy,  only 
too  happy,"  to  re-enter  into  the  good  graces  of  this 
sinner. 

And  there  was  no  priest  in  the  world  to  exact  -of 
her,  living  poison  and  crying  scandal  as  she  was,  any 
more  than  would  have  been  required  of  any  humble 
woman  of  the  wayside.  The  path  of  Mary  Magdalen 
lay  before  her. 

But  no  heart  was  in  the  body  of  this  courtesan, 
aging  in  years,  and  already  a  veteran  in  infamy.  Mary 
Magdalen  had  loved  much  ;  Madame  de  Pompadour 
had  haggled  much,  hated  much,  and  defiled  much. 


France, 


157 


She  was  of  the  Jewish  race,  and  it  was  a  bargain  which 
she  proposed  to  Heaven. 

She  knew  this  so  well  that  she  hesitated.  They  say, 
that  at  this  juncture  M.  le  Due  de  Choiseul,  the  states- 
man-philosopher, who  ruined  our  colonies,  who  fam- 
ished our  soldiers  in  campaign,  and  reduced  our  prov- 
inces to  despair,  by  paying  the  monstrous  "  appropri- 
ations" of  the  "favorite";  this  the  man,  worthy  of 
a  profound  pity,  as  the  apparent  cause  of  all  the  dis- 
asters of  France  ;  he  who  had  the  supreme  misfortune, 
as  the  minister  of  kings,  to  be  praised  by  the  assassins 
of  kings,  desired  to  implant  the  seed  of  an  undying 
hatred  in  the  base  mind  of  this  fallen  woman.  He 
had  need  of  it. 

He  pronounced  in  the  ear  of  Madame  de  Pom- 
padour the  word  :  "  Society  of  Jesus."  The  famous 
commonplace  of  the  Jansenist  calumny  —  the  "lax 
morality"  of  the  Jesuits  —  was  naturally  discussed. 
Those  whom  Pascal  had  accused  of  "weak  devotion," 
would  smooth  all  difficulties,  and  arrange  everything 
in  the  furtherance  of  their  own  interests.  The  fact  is, 
that  Madame  de  Pompadour  addressed  herself  to  the 
Jesuits  to  demand  their  complicity  in  a  sacrilegious 
rite. 

Many  still  affirm  that  the  Jesuits  repulsed  her  over^ 
ture  with  violent  indignation.  They  are  mistaken  ; 
the  indignation  of  the  Fathers  was  mute,  because  their 
conscience  was  clear. 


158  The  Jesnits. 

It  appears  from  all  documents,  that  Madame  de 
Pompadour  was  received  with  the  commiseration  due 
to  her  ignorance  and  to  her  moral  misery.  The  same 
was  said  to  her  that  is  said  to  all  who  seek  the  tribunal 
of  penance. 

If  she  persisted  and  carried  into  effect  a  sacrilegious 
negotiation,  as  seems  to  be  proven  by  the  insensate 
appeal  which  she  carried  even  to  the  feet  of  the  Holy 
Father,  it  is  proved  equally  by  this  appeal  that  she 
was  put  otf  with  all  the  firmness,  full  of  gentleness, 
that  would  have  been  employed  in  any  similar  case, 
toward  no  matter  what  sinner,  who  lacked  the  most 
simple  religious  education,  so  far  as  to  claim  a 
place  at  the  Festival  of  the  Spouse,  without  having  re- 
ceived the  nuptial  robe.  They  could  do  no  less,  they 
could  do  more. 

But  as  full  of  clemency  as  appeared  the  refusal, 
Madame  la  Marquise  could  not  pardon  it,  and  the 
ruin  of  the  Jesuits  Avas  sworn. 

History  teems  with  like  instances  of  great  catastro- 
phies,  brought  about  by  the  most  contemptible  causes. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  establishments  or 
"  reductions,"  those  small  model  repubHcs,  founded  ia 
the  two  Americas  by  the  Fathers,  and  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  unanimous  testimony  of  Protestant  writers^ 
whether  philosophers  or  otherwise,  restored  the  golden 
age  to  these  countries  so  remote  from  Europe. 

Fenelon  had  only  to  paint  their  morning  in  order  to 


France. 


159 


give  a  picture  of  Salentum,  and  later,  Bernardin  de 
Saint  Pierre,  after  Jean  Jacques,  took  from  thence  the 
principal  traits  of  his  charming  "Studies  of  Nature." 

The  "  Reductions "  of  Paraguay  and  Uruguay, 
which  Pombal  afterward  destroyed,  were  especially 
celebrated  ;  but  besides  these,  there  were  colonies  of 
the  Antilles.  Certainly  none  would  have  believed  that 
this  work  of  civiHzation,  so  universally  vaunted  and 
appreciated,  should  contain  for  the  Jesuits  the  germ 
of  disease  and  death. 

So  it  proved,  however.  The  repulse  of  Madame  de 
Pompadour  was  one  of  those  occasions  that  can  not  be 
suffered  to  pass,  and  in  order  to  profit  by  it,  the  Minister 
determined  to  seize  the  first  pretext  which  should  pre- 
sent itself.  Let  us  take  the  account  of  the  Protestant 
historian  Sismondi  : 

"  The  establishment  of  the  missions  where  .the  con- 
verted Indians  worked,"  says  the  Genevese  writer, 
"  to  contribute  toward  a  common  fund,  administered 
by  the  Fathers,  had  induced  these  ReHgious  to  take 
upon  themselves  a  most  weighty  aduiinistration  ;  in 
economics,  it  was  their  charge  to  support  and  to  clothe 
an  entire  people.* 


*  The  intervention  of  the  Jesuits  was  especiall)'  needed  to 
protect  the  credulity  and  ignorance  of  the  native  Indians 
against  the  cupidity  of  the  European  traffickers.  —  Ad. 
Archier,  "The  Order  of  Jesus,"  p.  257. 


i6o 


TJie  Jesuits. 


"  Father  de  Lavalette,  a  Frenchman,  treasurer  of 
the  mission  of  Martinique,  was  intrusted  with  vast 
mercantile  interests  ;  but  several  of  his  vessels  were 
captured  by  the  English  in  1775,  before  any  declara- 
tion of  war,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  entire  merchant 
service  of  France." 

Such  was  the  point  of  dispute  calmly  exposed  by  a 
historian,  who  can  not  be  taxed  with  partiality  in  favor 
of  the  Order.  Later,  it  is  true,  the  case  became  more 
aggravated. 

The  action  of  the  English  Government  was,  in  fact, 
an  excess,  which  had  its  origin  in  the  contempt  which 
was  felt  for  the  Government  of  France  under  the 
administration  of  Choiseul. 

The  foot  of  the  stranger  weighed  on  our  neck,  and 
England  thus  repaid  the  concessions  of  our  favoring 
Minister. 

The  responsibility  of  the  misfortune  which  over- 
whelmed the  merchant  service  of  France  in  general, 
and  the  fleet  of  Martinique  in  particular,  may  be  laid 
at  the  door  of  the  Administration,  which,  far  from  com- 
ing to  the  aid  of  the  innumerable  victims  of  its  unskill- 
fulness,  treated  them  with  the  utmost  rigor. 

Father  de  Lavalette,*  plundered  of  the  enormous 


*  He  was  warmly  defended  by  colonial  authority.  He  was 
descended  from  the  elder  brother  of  Jean  de  la  Valette, 
Grand  Master  of  Rhodes. 


France, 


i6i 


wealth  of  which  he  had  been  only  the  administrator, 
committed  the  unpardonable  fault  of  disobeying  the 
"  Constitutions."  He  speculated  in  order  to  fill  the 
void  in  the  common  fund,  and  his  speculations  proved 
unfortunate. 

His  creditors  closed  upon  him,  and  began  a  suit 
against  the  Order. 

Before  judging  the  case  by  which  the  partial 
Parliament,  utterly  disregarding  facts  when  acting 
against  the  Society,  searched  for  and  found  a  pretext 
for  flattering  at  once  the  recent  fury  of  the  favorite, 
and  the  inveterate  hatred  of  the  Minister,  we  will  quit 
Paris,  and  pass  the  frontier  of  Portugal,  where  Pom- 
bal,  the  "  Great  Marquis,"  inaugurated  against  the 
Order  the  first  and  decisive  battle  which  produced  so 
disastrous  an  influence  upon  the  situation  of  the  Insti- 
tute, both  in  France  and  throughout  the  entire  world. 
We  are  happy  to  be  able,  in  the  chronological  order 
of  events,  to  give  precedence  to  the  royal  tiger  over 
the  wolves  and  foxes  of  the  pack,  which  are  about  to 
enjoy  a  feast  of  so  many  saints  and  martyrs. 
II 


V. 


POMBAL. 

What  is  most  strange,"  said  Voltaire,  "  in  their 
disaster  (the  disaster  of  the  Jesuits)  is,  that  they  were 
proscribed  in  Portugal  for  having  degenerated  from 
the  requirements  of  their  Institute,  and  in  France  for 
having  conformed  to  it  too  closely." 

Strange  is  used  here  in  the  sense  of  curious,  and 
amusing;  for,  in  fact,  all  philosophical  Europe  had 
been  considerably  amused  by  this  whole  performance, 
and  been  in  no  way  sparing  of  scorn,  as  expressed  by 
absurd  fancies  and  humorous  sallies,  toward  the  execu- 
tioners who  spilt  so  much  blood  ;  and  sarcasm  toward 
the  imprudent  demolishers  who  threw  down  so  grand 
an  edifice,  the  bulwark  of  royalty  for  so  many  cen- 
turies. 

Delighted  as  it  was  at  heart,  the  Encyclopedie  " 
could  not  do  less  than  find  fault.  In  it  was  contained 
the  journalism  of  the  time.  Some  slight  pity  was  not 
unbecoming;  just  a  suggestion  of. justice  as  a  set-off 
to  the  whole  against  those  self-constituted  champions 
who  slash  away  at  random,  in  all  causes  ;  that  gives 
to  its  garrulity  'an  air  of  impartiality,  and  besides,  it 
(162) 


Poinbal. 


163 


is  sweet  and  easy,  as  well  as  agreeable,  to  mourn  for 
a  murdered  enemy.    The  crocodiles  weep. 

In  one  of  the  principal  squares  of  Lisbon  stands  the 
statue  of  the  king,  Joseph  Emmanuel,  son  of  John  V. 
At  the  foot  of  this  statue  one  may  see  that  of  his  Min- 
ister, Don  Sebastian  de  Carvalho  y  Melho,  .  Count 
d'Oeyras,  Marquis  de  Pombal,  whom  those  of  the 
liberal  school  compare  to  Cardinal  Richelieu.  No 
international  law  prohibits  pleasantries  of  this  nature. 

We  must  not  judge  a  country  by  the  number  of 
square  miles  which  its  surface  covers,  and  Portugal,  an 
insignificant  nation,  if  considered  in  point  of  extent 
and  population,  is  historically  great. 

It  possesses  in  its  annals  the  history  of  more  dis- 
tinguished men  than  it  has  public  places  to  fill  with 
their  statues  in  the  whole  of  its  illustrious  capital  of 
Lisbon;  kings,  navigators,  soldiers,  and  poets;  Cam- 
oens,  Albuquerque,  Gama,  Cabral,  Henry,  John,  and 
Pedro  ;  the  empire  of  Brazil  is  its  work,  stamped  as 
itself  with  the  royal  crest  of  Braganga.  Its  merchants 
were  fortunate,  daring,  and  powerful ;  its  fleets  cov- 
ered the  seas  ;  its  colonies  dotted  the  earth  ;  its  no- 
bility was  as  ancient  and  haughty  as  any  in  Europe  ; 
and  if  its  ancient  influence  has  considerably  deterio- 
rated, it  is  because  Protestant  zeal  never  allows  a  Cath- 
olic people  to  arrogate  to  themselves  power,  and  on 
account  of  English  disinterestedness,  always  on  the 
watch  to  repeat  the  experience  of  Ireland. 


164 


The  Jesuits. 


Many  rich  Portuguese  pickings  have  found  their 
way  into  the  yawning  pockets  of  its  generous  friend, 
England.  Certain  protections  cost  not  too  dear,  and 
it  is  the  popular  opinion  that  Portugal  will  have  diffi- 
culty in  ever  recovering  entirely  from  the  effects  of  the 
pompous,  but  bloody  strategy  that  was  played  on  her 
ground  at  her  expense,  to  gain  Arthur  Wellesley  a 
bouquet  of  tides  and  a  garland  of  pensions,  a 
pocket  full  of  English  glory,  and  a  re-christening  from 
which  he  emerged  "  His  Grace,  my  Lord  Duke  of 
Wellington." 

Without  railing  at  or  blaming  those  who  draw  a 
parallel  between  the  Marquis  of  Pombal  and  Cardinal 
Richelieu — for  even  the  errors  of  patriotism  are  touch- 
ing and  command  respect — I  can  not  forbear  express- 
ing my  astonishment  that  the  Portuguese  should  have 
chosen  to  erect  a  statue  on  the  beautiful  banks  of  the 
Tasus,  to  the  Minister  who  made  so  notorious  an 
eftbrt  to  betray  his  country  to  the  point  of  hiding  the 
noble  brows  of  the  sons  of  "Avez"  under  the  furred 
bonnet  of  Calvin,  along  with  that  of  the  king  who  suf- 
fered the  attempt. 

Were  not  the  Portuguese  Anglicized  enough  with- 
out that  ? 

It  is  hardly  worth  while  censuring  Joseph  of  }3ra- 
ganga  in  this  affair,  for,  truth  to  tell,  he  hardly  thought 
except  by  the  brain  of  his  Minister ;  but  it  is  certain 
Pombal  entertained  this  project;  that  he  had  even 


Pombal. 


i6s 


begun  to  put  it  into  execution,  ana  ihat  he  was  only 
deterred  from  its  completion  by  the  firm,  obstinate 
resistance  of  the  Portuguese  themselves,  manifested 
without  outward  sign,  but  mutely  protesting  their  un- 
alterable resolution  of  not  deserting  the  Catholic 
Faith. 

Pombal  served  the  English  throughout  his  life,  al- 
though playing  in  their  regard  the  comedy  of  enmity. 

Never,  apparently,  did  Portuguese  oppose  more 
strongly  their  invading  caresses,  but  he  had  in  his 
portfoHo  the  famous  project  of  marriage  between  the 
Princess  of  Beira  and  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  ;  a 
union  which  would  have  eventually  made  the  latter 
inherit  the  crown  of  Braganga. 

It  can  not  be  alleged  that  it  was  his  devotion  to  the 
English  which  induced  him  to  this  step  ;  he  was  de- 
voted to  none  save  himself;  he  courted  power,  and 
took  any  road  which  led  thither. 

It  is,  however,  certain  that  the  Jesuits  were  natural- 
ly opposed  to  English  rule  in  Portugal,  and  conse- 
quently to  the  proposed  marriage.' 

"The  Duke  of  Cumberland,"  says  the  Marshal  of 
Belle-Isle,*  "  expected  to  become  King  of  Portugal, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  his  design  would  have  been  ac- 
complished were  it  not  for  the  opposition  of  the 
Jesuits,  the  confessors  of  the  Royal  family,"  and,  he 


*  "  Political  Testament,"  p.  io8. 


TJie  Jesuits. 


adds,  "  Behold  the  crime  which  could  never  be  par- 
doned them."* 

Already  we  have  a  motive  for  the  hatred  of  Pombal 
against  the  Jesuits ;  he  endeavored  to  import  Protest- 
antism into  Portugal,  and,  in  conscience,  the  Jesuits 
could  not  suffer  it ;  first  cause. 

But  he  had  other  reasons  for  hating  the  Fathers. 
First  of  all,  he  had  carried  his  passion  of  philosophical 
doctrines  to  such  an  excess  that  the  select  circle  of 
Atheists  who  ruled  the  "  Encyclopedie "  school  at 
Paris  repudiated  him  more  than  once  as  being  a  ques- 
tionable ally. 

M.  de  Choiseul,  who  later  was  to  follow  him  step  by 
step  along  the  road  of  persecution,  began  by  ridiculing 
him,  along  with  his  protectress,  and  Madame  de  Gram- 
mont,  her  sister,  who  laughingly  asked  the  Spanish 
Ambassador  (Charles  III.,  .by  the  way,  had  ordered 
the  pamphlets  of  Pombal  to  be  burnt  by  the  hand  of 
the  executioners),  "if  the  great  Marquis  of  the  little 
country  always  carried  a  Jesuit  astride  his  nose  ?  " 

Second  cause,  Pombal  had  flattered  the  Jesuits  in 
the  beginning  of  his  career  ;  going  so  far  as  to  invest 
his  second  son  with  the  habit  of  the  Order ;  he  now 
wished  to  do  away  with  the  remembrance  of  this,  by 
his  zeal  in  their  persecution. 

In  the  third  place,  the  Jesuits  were  very  powerful ; 


*  Ibid. 


Pomhal. 


as  the  Marshal  of  Belle-Isle  relates,  they  were  con- 
fessors to  all  the  members  of  the  Royal  family  ;*  such 
men  as  Pombal  are  jealous  of  all  power,  and  envy  is 
the  most  essential  element  of  hate. 

The  testimony  of  both  ancient  and  modern  moral- 
ists goes  to  show  that  the  evil-doer  detests  his  victim ; 
witness,  for  example,  the  instinctive  aversion  which  the 
spoKator  nourishes  against  the  despoiled  is  an  example. 

Now,  Pombal  was  the  unrelenting  spoliator  of  the 
Jesuits,  whom  he  had  robbed,  per  fas  et  nefas^  of  the 
magnificent  establishments  of  Maragnon,  of  Uruguay 
and  others,  by  means  of  bribes,  skillfully  used  to  in- 
crease his  considerable  personal  influence. 

By  this  enumeration,  far  from  complete  as  it  is, 
which  we  have  made,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Marquis 
of  Pombal  had  numerous  and  solid  excuses  for  hating 
the  Jesuits. 

The  first  of  these,  in  point  of  time,  was  the  habit  of 
a  Jesuit  put  upon  the  shoulders  of  his  son,  in  order  to 
gain  the  good-will  of  Pere  Moriera,  confessor  to  the 
king ;  the  most  important  was  the  devastation  of  the 
establishments  at  Uruguay,  and  the  violent  expulsion 
of  thirty  thousand  Christians  of  Parana,  in  order  to 
facilitate  the  work  of  the  pretended  gold  mines,  which. 


*  Father  Jose  Moriera  was  confessor  to  the  king  ;  Father 
Timothee  to  Olivia  Maria,  Dutchess  of  Braganga  ;  Father  de 
Costa  to  Dom  Pedro  of  Portugal. 


The  Jesuits. 


according  to  Pombal,  the  Jesuits  had  discovered  in 
these  regions,  and  which  proved  a  mere  chimera. 

This  v/as  still  some  years  before  the  occurrence  of 
the  Lavalette  trial.  The  Court  of  France  testified 
great  warmth,  apropos  of  the  unjust  proceedings  of 
the  great  Marquis,  though  later  it  was  to  inaugurate 
against  the  same  Order,  a  less  bloody,  but  still  more 
senseless  war. 

Pombal  could  pardon  the  Jesuits  neither  the  terri- 
ble misery  into  which  he  had  plunged  the  terrestrial 
paradise  of  the  poor  Indians,  the  absence  of  the  gold 
mines,  nor  the  pleasantries  of  Mesdames  Pompadour 
and  Grammont. 

At  the  time  of  entering  the  ministry,  he  was  a  man 
of  fifty  years  of  age,  worn  out  by  incessant  struggling 
and  unceasing  political  efforts  which  had  not  always  been 
attended  with  success.  He  had  other  enemies  beside 
the  Jesuits.  In  early  life  he  had  incensed  the  nobility 
by  outraging  many  of  its  most  cherished  prejudices, 
and  above  all  in  espousing  publicly,  in  the  face  of  his 
equals,  what  is  known  as  a  daughter  of  the  blue  blood 
{sang  azur)  for  which  in  consequence  he  was  obliged 
to  submit  to  many  scornful  slights  and  much  insolent 
treatment. 

He,  however,  took  horrible  revenge,  and  if  it  be  on 
account  of  the  torrents  of  blood  shed  by  him,  that  his 
admirers  compare  him  to  Cardinal  Richelieu,  they  are 
far  from  just  in  their  estimate  of  him. 


Pomhal. 


In  this  respect  Pombal  merits,  without  question,  the 
place  of  honor ;  in  the  scale  of  ferocity,  he  should  be 
compared  with  none. 

He  passed  in  France  for  an  able  Minister ;  his  con- 
duct during  the  earthquake  at  Lisbon  had  gained  him 
great  praise  ;  and  indeed,  save  the  Jesuits,  whose  noble 
devotion  to  suffering  humanity  at  this  period  is  legend- 
ary, none  showed  more  skill  and  courage  than  he. 
M.  de  Choiseul,  notwithstanding  the  witticisms  which 
he  poured  forth  for  the  king's  amusement,  held  him  in 
much  esteem,  and  fondly  hoped  that  the  good  Car- 
valho,"  as  he  called  him,  would  rid  the  world  some 
time  or  other  of  the  meddling  Jesuit,  whom  all  the 
philosophers  and  Jansenists  "  carried  astride  their 
nose." 

The  affair  of  Uruguay  and  the  hostile  attitude  which 
Pombal  began  to  assume  toward  the  Holy  See,  did 
not  diminish  this  hope. 

Between  the  years  1750  and  1758,  at  the  court 
of  his  royal  master,  Pombal  still  preserved  some  show 
of  friendliness  toward  members  of  the  Order,  who  stood 
in  high  favor- there,  while  at  the  same  time  he  made 
great  efforts  to  regain  the  favor  of  the  nobility.  But 
in  vain  ;  the  nobility  hated  him,  and  perhaps  they  were 
right ;  but  in  despising  him  as  a  foe,  they  were  wrong. 

During  the  night  between  the  3d  and  4th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1758,  at  a  time  which  appeared  singularly  free 
from  any  pohtical  disturbance  which  could  furnish  the 


I/O  '  The  Jesuits. 


motive  for  such  an  act,  an  attempt  was  made  to  as- 
sassinate the  King  of  Portugal, 

Joseph  had  reigned  eight  years,  and  was  in  the  forty- 
third  year  of  his  age.  He  was  no  worse  than  the 
princes  of  his  time  ;  his  character  was  free  from  wick- 
edness, and  he  had  shown  in  many  circumstances  an 
honorable  solicitude  for  the  public  welfare. 

As  king,  he  shared  the  weakness  common  to  so  many 
kings,  and  willingly  allowed  others  to  think  for  him  ; 
he  saw  through  the  eyes  of  another,  and  from  the  first 
day  unconsciously  permitted  himself  to  be  led  by  his 
Minister,  who  had  succeeded  in  inspiring  him  with  a 
lurking  jealousy  against  Dom  Pedro,  his  brother,  a 
young  prince  much  beloved  by  the  people. 

Pedro  of  Braganga  was  too  popular  in  Lisbon ;  the 
king  not  sufficiently  so. 

In  this  regard  the  individual  history  of  Pedro  in  Por- 
tugal is  the  eternal  history  of  the  brothers  of  kings — a 
history  which  has  too  frequently  ended  in  a  manner 
not  calculated  to  increase  the  confidence  of  the  elder 
brother.  There  is  no  better  occasion  than  it  to  es^ 
tablish  the  credit  of  a  favorite,  for  an  atmosphere  of 
distrust  lurks  about  thrones.  At  Constantinople  only 
has  a  certain  remedy  been  found  for  this  uneasiness  ; 
the  Sultans  strangle  their  brothers,  and  end  the  sub- 
ject. 

For  a  long  time  Pombal  agitated  the  weak  mind  of 
his- sovereign  with  only  vague  hisinuations.    It  was  at 


Pomhal. 


171 


first  in  connection  with  himself  that  Pombal  pro- 
nounced the  word  assassination ;  he  pretended  to 
dread  personal  danger ;  and  during  the  summer  of 
1754,  we  find  Joseph  signing  a  truly  extraordinary- 
edict,  "  to  provide  for  the  case  of  the  assassination  of 
a  Minister  of  State."* 

Joseph,  nevertheless,  had  never  passed  for  a  fool — 
entirely.    There  are  those  who  only  come  near  it. 

The  above-mentioned  edict  supposed  a  future  con- 
tingency of  such  assassination,  decreeing  that  it  be  con- 
sidered as  high  treason,  and  a  magistrate,  the  Senator 
Gonzales  Cordeiro,  was  charged,  apropos  of  this  folly, 
to  seek  diligently  and  continually  for  information. 

Do  not  smile,  but  guard  yourselves  well,  people  of 
Lisbon  !  The  number  of  prisons  was  tripled,  and 
even  then  lacked  room.  Forty  years  before  Paris, 
Lisbon  had  her  Terror.  Chosen  emissaries  swarmed 
throughout  the  city,  eager  to  gain  the  reward  promised 
to  the  inventor  of  the  man  seeking  to  assassinate  the 
Minister  of  State  ! 

The  existing  state  of  affairs  produced  grumblings  o\ 
the  part  of  the  philosophers  on  the  borders  of  the  Seine, 
who,  when  the  rumors  of  the  prevaiHng  excess  reached 
Paris,  accused  the  philosopher  of  the  banks  of  the 


*  It  was  said  in  the  decree  of  August,  1754,  that  a  Minis- 
ter of  State  might  be  assassinated  by  the  intrigues  of  some 
one. — Cretinkau-Joly,  Vol.  I.,  p.  124. 


172 


The  Jesuits. 


Tagiis,  of  improving  upon  the  Inquisition,  but  Pombal 
turned  a  deaf  ear  to  these  critics. 

He  was  only  in  the  first  steps  of  his  journey;  mean- 
while, his  enemies  fell  before  him  like  so  many  flies. 

I  repeat  it  :  the  Portuguese  nobility  did  wrong  to 
despise  this  man. 

He  knew  how  to  make  a  skillful  use  of  decrees,  li- 
bels, riots,*  proscriptions,  and  confiscations;  he  was 
great  with  the  pen  and  in  diplomac}^ ;  mighty  with 
bolts  and  with  tortures ;  he  had  talent — enormous 
talent.  Besides  which,  he  possessed  "  liberal  ideas," 
since  he  combated  the  Church. 

Liberal  with  the  axe,  liberal  with  the  torch,  liberal 
with  falsehood ;  all  is  liberal  in  this  connection,  even 
hypocrisy  united  to  ferocity. 

Time  went  on,  however,  and  notwithstanding  the 
fantastic  provisions  of  the  decree  of  1754,  the  Marquis 
of  PoQibal  was  not  assassinated.  At  length,  at  the  end 
of  four  years,  the  decree  havmg  done  nearly  all  that 
was  possible  in  the  way  of  procuring  arbitrary  arrests, 
condemnations,  banishments,  and  confiscations,  the 
lynx-eyed  emissaries  began  to  relax  their  vigilance, 
and  the  hidalgos  to  breathe  freely  once  more,  when 
occurred  the  attempt  of  the  night  of  September  3d. 

*  Witness  that  of  Oporto,  raised  in  favor  of  the  English, 
while  the  Minister  ostensibly  opposed  the  English  irrfluence 
at  Lisbon. 


PomhaL 


The  king  had  left  the  hotel  Tavora,  and  was  return- 
ing to  the  palace,  not  in  his  own  coach,  but  in  that  of 
a  rich  gentleman  named  Antonio  Tejeira,  when,  in  a 
cross  street,  two  pistol  shots  (others  said  four)  were 
fired  at  his  Majesty  by  some  unknown  person.. .  Who 
was  the  person  ?  Was  not  this  Unknown  the  famous 
"someone"  of  the  decree? 

The  king  had  been' wounded  in  the  right  arm.  This 
was  nearly  two  years  after  the  knife  thrust  of  Damiens. 

Jesuits  !  What  a  glorious  occasion  !  They  have 
asserted  against  all  probability,  against  good  sense 
even,  the  knife  of  Damiens  to  be  that  of  the  Jesuits  ;* 
they  accused  them  of  the  mysterious  shooting  in  the 
face  of  certainty  itself. 

In  regard  to  those  men  whom  he  had  checked  in 
their  work  of  self-sacrifice  and  devotion  in  the  New 
World,  whom  he  had  pillaged,  outraged,  and  persecuted 
in  every  possible  and  almost  impossible  manner,  Pom- 
bal  felt  himself  so  guilty,  that  to  the  depths  of  his  heart, 
so  full  of  hatred,  nothing  could  restore  security  save 
their  death. 

Jesuits  !  He  uttered  this  sonorous  name,  whose  men- 

*  Voltaire  had  written,  refusing  to  compromise  himself  in 
the  falsity  of  this  accusation  (letter  of  the  3d  of  March, 
1763),  I  have  no  affection  for  the  Jesuits,  but  I  will  raise 
posterity  in  their  favor,  if  I  accuse  them  of  a  crime  of  which 
Europe  and  Damiens  justifies  them.  I  will  not  serve  merely 
as  a  vile  echo  of  the  Jansenists." 


174 


The  Jesuits. 


tion  serves  to  wake,  unquestionably,  as  many  echoes 
of  evil  passions,  as  did  even  the  divine  name  which  it 
contains.  And  it  grants  the  Jews  an  eternal  feast  of 
Calvary. 

But  as  he  detested  the  great  body  of  the  Portuguese 
nobility  nearly  as  much  as  he  hated  the  Society  of  Je- 
sus, he  resolved  to  make  the  blow  strike  in  two  places, 
and  massacre  all  his  enemies  at  "once. 

An  impenetrable  cloud  envelopes  these  proceedings 
where  Pombal  was  accuser,  judge,  and  executioner. 

It  certainly  seemed  a  difficult  task  to  implicate  the 
Jesuits,  confessors  and  friends  of  the  king  and  of  the 
whole  royal  family,  in  an  attempt  upon  the  life  of  his 
Majesty. 

What  motive  could  persuade  them  to  such  a  crime  ? 
"  Reus  is  est  cui  p7'odest  delictum^^  says  the  pagan 
wisdom  of  the  Romans.  "  Seek  the  criminal  in  him 
who  profits  by  the  crime." 

Pombal,  a  doctor  of  the  University  of  Coimbra,  was 
not  ignorant  of  this  axiom,  and  had  he  been  gifted 
with  prescience,  would  have  seen  it  condemn  him  be- 
fore the  tribunal  of  posterity.  In  truth,  even  the 
writers  opposed  to  the  Catholic  belief,  while  slightly 
praising  him,  as  in  duty  bound,  through  gratitude  for  the 
war  of  extermination  which  he  waged  against  the  Jes- 
uits, show  neither  warmth  nor  sympathy  in  his  regard. 
Throughout  the  praise,  -commanded  by  the  "Mot 
d'Ordre,"  there  is  an  undercurrent  of  repugnance,  some- 


Pombal. 


175 


thing  of  the  reserve  and  rekictance  which  M.  de 
Choiseul,  Madame  de  Grammont,  and  even  the 
"  Encyclopedie  "  display  to  clasp  the  bloody  hand  of 
this  State  butcher. 

He  is  a  questionable  ally,  and  awakens  shame  even 
within  those  who  profited  by  his  base  work. 

The  English  alone,  his  pretended  enemies,  have 
cordially  and  openly  applauded  him. 

Does  the  reader  suppose,  then,  that  it  is  intended  to 
designate  Pombal  as  the  mysterious  "  some  one  "  in 
the  mystery  of  the  shooting  ?  Certainly  not,  if  by  this 
it  be  supposed  that  he  wished  to  kill  his  royal  master ; 
he  would  have  lost  too  much  by  his  death,  as  is  proved 
by  the  sequel.  If  it  is  supposed,  on  the  contrary,  that 
the  attempt  was  merely  an  audacious  ruse,  intended  to 
excite  the  timorous  fears  of  Joseph,  we  reply  that  no 
historical  proof  can  be  brought  forward  to  support  this 
theory,  and  that  its  only  foundation  lies  in  the  savage 
duplicity  which  was  the  chief  characteristic  of  the 
slayer  of  "  The  Fathers."  As  the  pistol-shots  were 
necessary  to  further  his  sanguinary  ends,  some  have 
thought  that  he  instigated  them,  inasmuch  as  the 
whole  criminal  prosecution,  which  was  exclusively  his 
work,  is  throughout  a  shameful  instance  of  the  triumph 
of  error. 

But  all  that  is  known  of  the  events  of  this  period 
utterly  refutes  this  theory,  as  well  as  a  second,  enter- 
tained for  a  time,  which  attributed  the  attack  to  a  mis- 


176 


The  Jesuits. 


take.  According  to  this  latter  version,  the  king  had  been 
assailed  in  the  carriage  of  Tejeira,  which  he  occupied, 
by  some  personal  enemies  of  Tejeira,  who  mistook  the 
object  of  their  vengeance.  It  was  by  means  of  this 
version  that  Pombal  implicated  the  unfortunate  Duke 
of  Aveiro,  reserved  for  so  frightful  a  sentence.  It  is 
time  that  the  truth  of  the  matter  be  finally  established 
in  the  popular  mind,  as  related  with  slight  alterations 
in  the  Memoirs  of  Pombal  himself. 

Joseph  of  Braganga,  a  feeble  imitator  of  his  royal 
contemporary,  Louis  XV.,  had  also  his  gallant  advent- 
ures, conducted  it  is  true  with  less  scandal ;  for  on  this 
point  no  court  can  compare  with  ours.  The  inmates 
only  of  the  palace  of  Alcantara  knew  that  the  king 
most  frequently  directed  his  steps  toward  a  certain 
hotel,  spacious  and  isolated  as  a  castle,  which  com- 
manded a  view  of  the  mouth  of  the  River  Tagus, 
beyond  its  vast  gardens. 

The  master  of  this  dwelling  was  the  old  Marquis  of 
Tavora,  one  of  the  proudest  members  of  the  Portu- 
guese nobility,  and  the  chief  of  what  is  known  as  the 
"  Hidalgos."  *  Pombal  had  been  refused  the  hand  of 
a  daughter  of  this  house  for  his  eldest  son  ;  and  he 
had  encountered  a  similar  refusal  in  other  families. 
He  remembered  it. 

*  This  name,  common  to  all  noble  blood  across  the  Pyr- 
enees, seems  to  have  attained  a  quasi-political  signification 
during  the  Ministry  of  Pombal. 


Pombal. 


177 


Whether  truthfully  or  not,  it  was  whispered  at  court 
that  the  king  had  insulted,  by  his  advances,  the  young 
and  beautiful  Dona  Teresa,  wife  of  the  eldest  son  of 
the  Marquis. 

In  France,  the  manners  of  the  court  had  become 
so  corrupt,  that  such  a  fact  would  have  been  deemed 
almost  an  honor,  as  is  shown  by  numerous  sad  exam- 
ples in  its  history  ;  but  in  spite  of  the  contagion  of 
skepticism  which  had  begun  to  infect  Lisbon,  the 
ancient  Portuguese  blood  still  retained  its  pride. 

I  am  far  from  asserting  that  the  young  Marquis  of 
Tavora  was  right  in  punishing  his  king,  who  had  dis- 
honored him  ;  I  urge,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  king 
who  does  a  wrong  of  this  nature,  deserves  as  much 
pity  as  any  ordinary  man  ;  nay,  even  more  so,  because 
he  is  more  guilty,  being  more  powerful  ;  but  I  only  re- 
late that,  in  defiance  of  the  laws  of  God,  which  visits 
with  equal  reprobation  the  crime  of  the  seducer  and 
the  vengeance  sought  by  the  spouse,  according  to  the 
savage  law  of  Portuguese  honor,  the  life  of  the  king 
was  forfeit  to  Tavora. 

I  allege  nothing  in  favor  or  defense  of  this  custom ; 
I  confine  myself  merely  to  a  statement  of  facts.  As  a 
Christian,  Tavora  was  obliged  to  pardon  ;  as  a  hidalgo, 
in  accordance  with  the  code  of  the  hidalgos,  and  the 
terrible  spirit  of  justice  which  pervaded  the  Peninsula, 
he  was  obliged  to  strike  even  his  king. 

And  everything  points  to  the  probability  that  he  did 
12 


178 


The  Jesuits. 


strike.  The  exception  made  in  favor  of  the  young 
Marquise  Teresa  of  Tavora,  amid  the  cruelties  prac- 
ticed upon  all  the  other  members  of  her  family,  proves 
at  once  the  injury  committed  and  the  attempted 
vengeance. 

Another  strong  and  decisive  proof  of  this  is  the  in- 
terest, sui  ge?ieris,  manifested  by  the  French  Ambassa- 
dor under  the  express  order  of  his  court,  for  her  safety, 
whilst  her  husband,  whether  guilty  or  not,  lay  suffering 
in  the  depths  of  a  dungeon  ;  an  interest  wholly  lacking 
in  behalf  of  the  innocent  father,  and  the  admirable 
mother  dying  in  tortures.  It  is  a  chapter  on  Louis 
XV.  and  his  age. 

I  add,  that  the  Jesuits  had  no  place  nor  part  in  these 
proceedings  except  that  with  which  Pombal  charged 
them. 

All  writers  have  commented  upon  the  inactivity 
which  distinguished  Pombal' s  movements  during  the 
three  months  following  the  attempt. 

Hitherto,  the  feline  side  of  his  nature  had  not  dis- 
played itself.  He  resembled  a  tiger-cat  raising  him- 
self slowly — before  bounding — to  bound  like  all  beasts 
of  prey.  He  wishes  to  rush  unawares  upon  the  victim 
that  he  has  lulled  to  sleep. 

On  the  1 2th  of  December,  after  sunset,  a  mounted 
guard  patroled  the  city,  while  a  detachment  of  foot- 
soldiers  took  up  their  position  in  the  narrow  streets  of 
the  quarter  occupied  by  the  nobiHty. 


Pomhal. 


179 


All  Lisbon  inquired  what  fete  was  about  to  be 
celebrated,  for  all  had  forgotten  the  affair  of  the  assas- 
sination, which,  indeed,  many  altogether  doubted,  an 
opinion  which  was  shared  -by  the  court  of  France, 
where  Choiseul  had  remarked,  upon  hearing  it  :  -'It  is 
one  of  Carvalho's  frolics." 

At  the  hour  of  seven,  a  squad  of  soldiery  presented 
themselves  before  the  principal  entrance  of  the  Hotel 
Tavora,  all  other  outlets  being  strictly  guarded. 

They  demanded  admittance  in  the  name  of  the  king, 
and  immediately  kindled  their  torches. 

The  king  had  often  partaken  of  hospitality  within 
this  picturesque  dwelling,  and  even  in  his  slavish 
weakness  he  was  still  capable  of  generous  instincts  ; 
that  he  was  ignorant  of  what  was  taking  place  at  this 
hour,  we  must  believe,  in  compassion  to  his  memory. 

The  doors  were  opened.  The  soldiers  passed  in  and 
scattered  themselves  throughout  the  palace.  A  cap- 
tive hand  was  laid  on  every  inmate,  from  the  master 
to  the  most  infirm  servitor,  and  all  were  conducted  to 
the  new  prison,  built  by  Pombal,  near  the  College  of 
Saint  Antonio. 

The  prison  was  a  spacious  building,  and  certainly  it 
needed  to  be,  for  at  one  time,  it  is  a  certain  fact,  Lis- 
bon counted  more  than  four  thousand  State  prisoners. 

Our  "  93  "  was  eclipsed  in  advance,  for  such  a  number 
of  captives  in  a  capital  which  contained  only  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  inhabitants  surpasses  the  most 


i8o 


The  Jesuits. 


sinister  "curiosities"  of  History.  Our  "  Diction- 
naires  "  of  liberal  education  are  right  in  declaring  that 
Pombal  was  no  ordinary  Minister. 

Elenora,  Marchioness  of  Tavora,  she  who  had  re- 
fused the  hand  of  Pombal's  son  for  her  daughter,  was 
separated  from  her  husband  and  children,  and  con- 
fined, perhaps  by  especial  grace,  "  171  pace  "  of  a  con- 
vent ;  the  other  women,  servants  and  mistresses,  were 
plunged  into  dungeons  and  subjected  to  the  most 
rigorous  measures. 

Domestics  and  masters,  the  men  disappeared  as  if 
the  earth  had  swallowed  them. 

Thanks  to  the  honorable,  but  exclusive  solicitude 
of  M.  de  Choiseul,  shown  by  his  correspondence  with 
M.  de  Saint  Julien,  French  charge  d'affaires  at  Lisbon, 
in  obedience  to  the  humane  spirit  of  Madame  de 
Pompadour,  we  are  able  to  state  that  the  interesting 
Dona  Teresa  was  treated  with  exceptional  lenity. 
Louis  XV.  was  satisfied. 

One  voice  at  least  is  raised  (that  of  Saint  Julien)  to 
assert  that  this  unhappy  young  creature  merited 
neither  the  insulting  interest  of  Choiseul  nor  the 
infamous  clemency  of  Pombal. 

We  learn,  by  means  of  the  same  correspondence,  that 
Pombal  was  deeply  incensed  on  learning  that  the  subal- 
terns, touched  by  the  misery  of  the  prisoners,  had  afford- 
ed some  slight  alleviations  of  their  miserable  condition. 

Besides  the  family  of  Tavora,  a  great  number  of  other 


PombaL 


i8i 


"  hidalgos "  were  arrested  on  the  same  night,  among 
others,  Don  Jose  de  Mascarenhas  y  Lancastre,  Duke 
of  Aveiro,  a  cousin  of  Dona  Elenora,  and  one  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  nobility  ;  one  Souza,  and  Milho,  nearly 
related  to  the  king,  and  a  more  distant  kinsman  of  the 
Minister,  Don  Miguel  de  Antonguia,  etc. 

The  same  night  also  saw  some  of  the  Jesuits  taken 
prisoners,  among  others,  P.  Hyacinthe  da  Costa,  con- 
fessor of  the  prince  Dom  Pedro. 

A  stupor  of  terror  settled  on  Lisbon.  The  phrase. 
State  of  Siege,"  was  not  yet  in  vogue,  but  the  thing 
existed. 

None  but  mercenary  soldiers  were  seen  in  the  streets, 
and  the  king  ceased  to  leave  the  palace.  A  leaden 
pall  weighed  on  the  city.  Any  one  who  dared  express 
a  doubt  of  the  guilt  of  the  prisoners,  or  let  fall  the  least 
sentiment  of  pity,  was  instantly  arrested. 

This  motley  collection  of  State  prisoners,  whose  large 
number  I  have  remarked,  was  composed  of  nearly  as 
many  trades-people  as  gentlemen. 

It  was  now  necessary  to  institute  some  official  pro- 
ceeiding ;  the  people  looked  for  it,  and  the  king  was 
an  honest  man. 

Pombal  resolved  to  enact  the  judicial  farce  of  an 
examination.  It  was  poorly  played.  He  threw  aside 
all  semblance  of  decorum  ;  his  judgment  forsook  him. 
He  defied  even  common  sense  ;  his  hatred  had  mounted 
to  his  brain  and  intoxicated  him. 


l82 


The  Jesuits, 


According  to  the  Portuguese  law,  the  accused  were 
entitled  to  be  judged  by  their  peers  ;  the  Duke  of 
Aveiro  and  the  Marquis  of  Tavora  were  the  two  first 
noblemen  in  Portugal ;  Pombal  refused  them  the 
privilege.  He  would  not  even  permit  them  to  be 
judged  by  the  ordinary  tribunals. 

He  formed  what  the  religious  and  political  Protest- 
ants of  all  times  have  incessantly  opposed  to  Authority, 
in  order  to  overreach  her  whenever  an  occasion  pre- 
sented itself,  from  the  time  of  Henry  VHI.  and  Calvin, 
down  to  Robespierre  ;  he  created  a  fashion  of  revolu- 
tionary tribunal  devoid  of  legal  competency,  which  he 
named  the  "  Court  of  Mistrust,"  *  (curious  fatality  of 
names),  and  he  naturally  composed  this  tribunal,  as 
such  always  are,  of  his  own  creatures,  among  whom 
were  two  of  his  colleagues,  da  Cunha  and  Cartte- 
Real.    And  he  presided  himself  ! 

As  the  proceedings  had  not  yet  been  confined  solely 
to  the  Jesuits,  the  "  Encylcopedie  "  grumbled  a  little 
at  the  sight  of  these  monstrosities. 

The  Parisian  philosophers  upheld  the  nobility,  by 
whom  they  subsisted.  M.  de  Saint-Priest,  a  not  over 
equitable  Judge,  alludes  frequently,  in  his  "  History 
of  the  Fall  of  the  Jesuits,"  to  the  bad  effects  produced 
in  the  philosophic  world  by  the  terrible  freaks  of 
Pombal. 


*  The  name  existed  before  Pombal. 


Pombal. 


183 


If  possible,  they  would  have  sustained  his  action, 
on  account  of  the  community  of  "  liberal  ideas,"  but 
he  had  gone,  in  truth,  a  little  too  far,  and  M.  de  Saint- 
Priest  forgets  himself  so  far,  as  to  allow  the  following 
phrase  to  escape  him:  "We  pity  the  victims  and 
laugh  at  the  executioner." 

This  confession,  in  such  a  mouth,  is  not  insignifi- 
cant— "  laugh  at  him."  Indeed,  the  Choiseul  coterie 
had  long  been  accustomed  to  do  this. 

Beginning  with  Madame  de  Pompadour,  all  re- 
garded him  as  a  monster  even  more  ridiculous  than 
ferocious. 

They  were  wrong  in  their  estimate,  as  you  will  find  ; 
I  have  already  said  this  apropos  of  the  nobility  of  Lis- 
bon ;  never  is  a  Pombal  to  be  despised ;  never  is  a 
hyena  to  be  laughed  at. 

Not  content  with  presiding  in  this  Court  of  Mis- 
trust," Pombal  took  upon  himself  the  charge  of  exam- 
inations—  an  action  wholly  without  precedent,  and 
which  provoked  remonstrances  from  two  of  the  most 
celebrated  jurists  in  Portugal — Freiro,  and  Bucallao, 
the  Senator.  Still  more,  Pombal  recorded  the  sentence, 
which  is  still  in  existence,  in  his  own  handwriting.* 

And  what  were  the  means  employed  to  perfect  this 
diabolically  philosophical  examination  ? 

Proscribed,  and  even  false  evidence,  of  shameless 


CretineauJoly,  Vol.  V.,  p.  153. 


1 84  The  Jesuits, 

and  open  intimidation,  and  above  all,  the  torture,  are 
certain  measures  to  obtain  convictions ;  the  latter  is  a 
means  which  never  fails  to  produce  its  effect.  Odious 
in  the  hands  of  upright  judges,  in  the  clutches  of  buf- 
foons who  only  profane  and  caricature  Justice,  it 
proves  an  excellent  instrument. 

The  respectable  "  Dictionnaire  "  intended  for  the  use 
of  the  young,  to  which  I  have  already  made  several 
allusions,  says,  in  speaking  of  Pombal,  that  he  served 
his  country  with  fervor  (I  fully  believe  it)  ;  that  he 
was  an  able  Minister  (a  proof!);  but  that  he  mani- 
fested, perhaps,  too  ardent  a  tendency  toward  the 
philosophical  ideas. 

Why  too  great  ?  One  can  never  cherish  too  dearly 
that  which  is  good,  and  he  only  went  as  far  as  the 
torture. 

It  is  true  that  this  torture  brought  about  a  judicial 
carnage,  of  which  the  very  recital  freezes  the  blood ; 
but  it  was  for  a  worthy  motive — torture  and  carnage 
produced  the  extermination  of  the  Jesuits. 

Must  not  that  be  taken  into  consideration  ?  Jesus 
said  of  the  sister  of  Lazarus,  "  Much  is  forgiven  her, 
because  she  has  loved  much." 

Why  do  not  the  Dictionaries  say  of  this  philosophic 
Minister,  "  Not  only  much,  but  all  should  be  forgiven 
him  ;  because  he  has  terribly  hated  "  ? 

This,  with  the  approbation  of  those  whom  it  may 
concern,  and  always  with  a  regard  to  the  interest  of 


Pombal. 


185 


youth,  whose  inconsiderate  insults  are  apt  to  trouble 
sometimes  the  consciences  of  the  approvers  of  "  Dic- 
tionnaires." 

What  astonishes  me  is — but  why  should  I  concern 
myself  with  such  matters  ?  These  quarrels  are  merely 
family  disagreements  between  great  men  who  have 
made  "  Dictionnaires,"  and  httle  men  who  will  make 
them. 

The  family  of  Tavora,  and  all  the  other  accused, 
remained  mute  under  the  torture  ;  but  the  unfortu- 
nate Duke  of  Aveiro  was  vanquished  by  torments.  He 
was  a  great  nobleman,  but  his  was  not  a  valiant 
heart. 

He  accused  his  fellow-prisoners  of  all  that  was  de- 
sired, and,  more  dead  than  alive,  implicated  also  the 
Jesuits. 

It  is  true  that  when  he  recovered  his  senses,  he  re- 
tracted this  accusation,  but  Pombal  held  his  testi- 
mony, and  would  not  relinquish  it.  They  refused  to 
record  the  retraction. 

The  sentence  of  death  was  rendered  against  the 
relations  and  friends  of  Tavora  on  the  12th  day  of 
January,  1759.  Pombal,  fearing  an  outburst  of  popu- 
lar indignation,  caused  the  scaffold  to  be  raised  during 
the  night,  at  Belem,  outside  the  city,  where  two  regi- 
ments of  mercenaries  were  stationed.  The  platform, 
illuminated  by  the  glare  of  the  torches,  was  raised 
eighteen  feet  from  the  ground. 


TJie  Jesuits. 


The  soldiers  encumbered  the  place  and  water-side 
to  such  an  extent  that  the  people  were  forced  to  take 
refuge  on  the  river  in  boats,  which  was  dotted  with  a 
thousand  barks,  from  whence  ascended  groans  and 
maledictions. 

Thus  passed  the  night  of  the  13th  of  January. 

At  daybreak  the  domestics  of  the  Duke  of  Aveiro 
were  brought  thither,  fastened  to  the  corners  of  the 
scaffold,  and  burnt  alive. 

Elenora,  Marchioness  of  Tavora,  next  arrived  alone^ 
the  cord  about  her  neck,  the  crucifix  in  her  hand,  and 
attired  in  the  garments  which  had  been  rent  by  the 
torture. 

Pombal  must  have  been  present  somewhere  in  the 
vicinity,  for  his  Memoirs  recount  vividly  the  awful  and 
sublime  scene ;  but  where  was  the  beautiful  Teresa, 
who  alone  awakened  the  tender  pity  of  Louis  XV,  and 
his  Minister  Choiseul  ?  She  it  was  who  had  attracted 
the  lightning  which  had  blasted  this  noble  house,  where 
she  had  been  welcomed  as  a  well-beloved  daughter, 
and  she  alone  had  received  the  insult  of  being  spared 
in  it. 

We  also  pity  her,  and  only  her.  Who  would  pity 
'  Dona  Elenora  with  her  proud,  gray  head  erect,  press- 
ing her  crucified  God  to  her  heart?  The  executioner 
would  have  bound  her  feet.  She  said  to  him  without 
anger,  "  Man,  I  beseech  you,  forget  not  who  I  am ; 
touch  me  only  to  kill  me." 


Ponibal. 


187 


The  executioner  fell  on  his  knees  before  her ;  Pom- 
bal  himself  relates  that  Dona  Elenora  took  a  ring  from 
her  finger.  She  was  one  of  that  race  who  reward  ev- 
ery service,  even  the  last. 

"  Here,"  she  said  to  the  executioner,  presenting 
it  to  him,  every  work  deserves  its  wages ;  I  have 
only  this,  and  I  give  it  to  you,  that  you  may  per- 
form your  duty  well." 

The  executioner  arose  and  did  his  duty. 

After  the  first  noble  blood  had  reddened  the  block, 
the  others  came  in  turn,  the  old  Marquis  of  Tavora 
first,  then  the  husband  of  Dona  Teresa.  Poor  wife  ! 
Do  you  think  I  speak  in  mockery  ?  No,  poor,  poor 
woman,  who,  in  the  opinion  of  M.  de  Choiseul,  was 
spared. 

There  remained  the  other  sons  of  Elenora,  of  whom 
the  youngest  had  only  attained  his  twentieth  year  ;  her 
son-in-law,  and  according  to  some,  her  daughter; 
then  the  long  file  of  officers  and  servitors  of  the 
household,  who  died  like  Christians  and  brave  Portu- 
guese. 

The  last  sufferer  was  the  unfortunate'  Duke  of 
Aveiro,  whose  limbs  were  hardly  able  to  support  the 
weight  of  his  body.  He  was  bound  on  the  wheel,  his 
shoulders  being  covered  with  rags  by  a  nice  refinC' 
ment  of  vengeance.  ' 

This  Pombal  was  insatiable  !  And  the  great  Cardi- 
nal, wh^,  when  he  killed,  killed  grandly,  if  it  be  per- 


i88 


The  Jesuits. 


mitted  to  statesmen  in  the  other  world  to  know  of  the 
insulting  parallels  to  which  they  are  subjected  here 
below,  must  smile  in  scornful  disdain  at  being  com- 
pared with  Pombal. 

In  dying,  Aveiro  glutted  to  the  full  his  enemy's  ap- 
petite for  vengeance.  For  nearly  one  hour  he  strug- 
gled on  the  wheel,  which  slowly  ground  his  bones, 
extorting  from  him  shrieks  of  agony  which  were  heard 
even  in  Lisbon. 

Pombal  relates  in  his  Memoirs,  with  evident  satis- 
faction, that  the .  Duke  was  Grand  hereditary  Master 
of  the  royal  palace.  President  of  the  Court  of  the 
palace,  first  Grandee  of  Portugal,  etc.  The  house  of 
Mascarenhas  had  been  founded  by  George,  a  natural 
son  of  John  II.,  called  the  Perfect. 

When  all  was  over,  the  torch  was  put  to  the  ma- 
chine of  death,  scaffold  and  all,  and  the  corpses,  half 
consumed,  were  flung  into  the  Tagus. 

Certainly  the  "dark  ages"  present  few  examples  of 
carnage  so  skillfully  carried  out  as  this.  The  putting 
of  the  work  into  motion  lacks  some  semblance  of  prob- 
ability, and  we  could  wish  for  a  little  less  of  that  gener- 
ous  want  of  ceremony  in  that  which  takes  the  place  of 
the  criminal  examination  ;  but  the  execution  is  above 
all  eulogy,  and  I  allude  to  it  only  with  the  respect 
which  is  due  to  a  master-piece. 

Why,  then,  do  the  approved  "  Dictionnaires  "  ignore 
this  subject  ?  Is  it  because  they  deny  its  truth,  notwith- 


PonibaL 


standing  the  testimony  of  Pombal  himself?  Is  it  not 
only  rendering  justice  its  due  to  avert,  by  the  recital  of 
this  action,  the  unmerited  reproach — although  most 
gently  administered,  it  is  true — against  this  Minister, 
charging  him  with  having  too  strongly  inclined  toward 
the  "  enlightened  ideas  "  of  his  age  ? 

In  fine,  however  they  arrange  it,  Pombal  is  a  ques- 
tionable ally. 

After  his  death  the  Senate  of  the  "  Encyclopedie," 
that  mother  of  "  Dictionnaires,"  would  have  repudiated 
him,  without  a  scruple,  if  it  had  not  been  that  he 
atoned  for  his  massacre  of  "  Hidalgos "  by  his  heca- 
tomb of  slaughtered  Jesuits.  Happily  for  him,  blood 
washed  out  blood. 

After  what  had  taken  place,  it  will  not  be  surprising 
to  learn  that  the  great  Marquis  still  retained  in  prison 
the  relations  and  friends  of  the  sufferers  who  had  not 
shared  their  fate ;  that  he  razed  to  the  ground  all  their 
hotels  and  palaces,  and  by  his  order  salt  was  sown  on 
their  sites.  The  arms  of  the  house  of  Tavora,  and 
those  of  their  pretended  accomplices,  were  effaced  in 
the  Hall  of  Chevaliers  in  the  Castle  of  Cintra,  where 
their  escutcheons  may  still  be  seen,  covered  with  q 
black  veil,  like  the  portrait  of  Faliero  in  the  ducal 
palace  at  Venice. 

This  last  fact  is  remarkable,  because  the  wicked 
judgment  which  commanded  it  remained  in  force 


The  Jesuits, 


comparatively  only  a  few  years.  In  fact,  Pombal 
himself  lived  long  enough  to  feel,  even  in  this  world, 
the  weight  of  God's  hand.  By  the  decree  of  the 
Grand  Cortes,  dated  the  7th  of  April,  1781,  during  his 
life-time,  all  his  victims  were  declared  reinstated,  and 
by  the  same  decree  Pombal  was  himself  dishonored. 

But  at  the  time  of  which  we  write,  this  tardy  and  in- 
sufficient justice  was  still  far  away ;  it  did  not  occur 
until  after  the  death  of  Joseph,  who  never  succeeded 
in  throwing  off  the  yoke  of  his  tyrant.  And  this  is  the 
particular  in  which  Pombal  most  closely  resembles 
Richeheu  ;  his  king  was  his  slave. 

When  he  had  finished  razing  walls,  the  great  Marquis 
erected  a  monument  worthy  of  him  ;  which  was  a 
beautifully  constructed  pillory,  intended,  by  special 
privilege,  only  for  members  of  the  nobility  exclusively. 

Those  who  think  that  now,  at  least,  the  measure  of 
his  vengeance  was  complete,  are  mistaken.  The 
vengeance  of  Pombal  was  to  extend  much  further,  and 
the  fact  deserves  to  be  chronicled. 

Later,  in  his  implacable  old  age,  he  employed  the 
last  breath  of  his  expiring  political  power  to  forcibly 
effect  a  union  between  the  granddaughter  of  the  great 
Elenora,  Marchioness  of  Tavora,  and  the  Count  of 
Oeyras,  his  son.  These  nuptials  recall  to  mind  the 
bridals  of  fabulous  ages,  on  which  is  founded  antique 
tragedy ! 

But  the  ways  of  God  point  often  to  the  very  reverse 


Pombal. 


191 


of  human  logic ;  and  from  this  frightfully  incongruous 
union  a  peaceful  happiness  was  born. 

This  mingling  of  the  blood  of  the  victims  with  that 
of  their  persecutor,  which  might  have  been  expected 
to  remain  sterile,  or  produce  most  unhappy  fruits,  was 
blessed  in  its  numerous  posterity. 

Reconcihation  arose  out  of  violence,  and  the  tragic 
convulsions  which  had  distinguished  the  enmity  of  two 
haughty  races  gave  place  to  the  undivided  honor  of  a 
numerous  and  tenderly-united  family. 

We  would  fain  have  done  with  the  subject  of  Pom- 
bal, but  of  his  two  objects  of  hate  he  had  yet  only 
attained  the  first;  in  the  slaughter  of  the  "Hidalgos" 
the  other  had  as  yet  escaped  him.  We  may  say  that 
the  massacre  of  the  nobility  was  only  a  means  to  ar- 
rive at  the  heart  of  his  real  enemy,  the  Society  of 
Jesus. 

He  was  transported  with  savage  joy  when  excess- 
ive sufi"ering  extorted  from  the  unfortunate  Duke  of 
Aveiro  an  accusation  against  the  Fathers. 

It  placed  the  game  in  his  hands,  and,  as  he  himself 
said,  he  that  day  won  his  stake. 

Between  the  time  of  the  Duke's  confession  and  the 
hour  when,  returned  to  consciousness,  he  in  vain 
supplicated  his  persecutors  to  receive  his  retraction, 
Pombal,  with  the  same  pen  which  had  written  the 
famous  edict,  signed  the  order  to  arrest  ten  Jesuits, 
among  whom  was  the  Portuguese  Provincial,  Hen- 


192 


The  Jesuits. 


riquez ;  Father  Malagrida,  spiritual  director  of  the 
Marchioness  Elenora;  Oliveira,  confessor  of  Marie, 
Duchess  of  Bragan^a ;  Suarez  Mattos,  and  even  Joseph 
Moreiro,  notwithstanding  his  dignity  of  royal  confessor. 

As  for  Father  Costa,  who  was  first  submitted  to  th-e 
torture,  in  the  secret  hope  of  wringing  from  him  some 
avowal  sufficient  to  compromise  his  penitent,  the 
prince,  Dom  Pedro,  he  had  been  arrested  and  thrown 
into  prison  some  days  previous. 

Malagrida,  as  confessor  of  the  Marchioness  Elenora, 
Mattos  as  being  a  friend  of  Rebeira,  and  Alonguia, 
and  Father  Jean  Alexandre,  for  having  returned  from 
the  Indies  in  the  same  vessel  with  the  Tavoras,  were 
all  three  condemned  to  death  by  the  edict  of  the 
12th  of  January,  but  they  did  not  suffer  in  the  mas- 
sacre of  Belem. 

Pombal  was  gathering  all  his  forces  in  order  to  take 
the  surer  leap,  as  he  had  waited,  after  the  attempted 
assassination  of  the  king. 

The  tiger  was  settling  on  his  haunches  for  a  spring 
His  second  and  more  mighty  bound,  made  always 
under  cover  of  darkness,  took  place  during  the  night 
which  preceded  the  i6th  of  February.  All  the 
houses  of  the  Society  throughout  Portugal,  colleges  as 
well  as  residences,  were  surrounded  by  his  followers, 
accompanied  by  detachments  of  soldiers,  and  all  the 
Jesuits  in  the  kingdom  awoke  in  the  morning  to  find 
themselves  prisoners. 


PombaL 


193 


Collectively,  and  without  any  distinctness,  the  Jes- 
uits were  accused  of  having  favored  the  regicide  plot, 
and  to  give  some  idea  of  the  complete  tyranny  which 
was  exercised  over  the  unhappy  king,  it  is  sufficient  to 
state  that  neither  himself  nor  the  queen  could  obtain 
permission  to  see  Father  Joseph  Moreiro,  for  whom 
the  royal  pair  entertained  a  most  sincere  affection. 

Besides  this  general  accusation,  the  greater  number 
of  the  Fathers  were  inculpated  as  having  been  the 
private  counselors  and  friends  of  the  conspirators,  of 
having  fomented  their  hatred,  and  excited  their  mur- 
murs, either  in  the  tribunal  of  penance  or  the  privacy 
of  social  life. 

This  vague  assertion  had  a  still  more  vague  founda- 
tion. It  was  based  upon  a  single  visit  which  the 
Duke  of  Aveiro  had  made  to  the  College  of  San  An- 
tonio, for  which  a  most  probable  explanation  was 
given,  to  wit,  that  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  cour- 
tesy, the  Duke  had  attended  on  that  day  a  Thesis  of 
Philosophy,  sustained  by  a  young  relation  of  his,  the 
heir  of  his  great  house. 

Evidently,  Pombal  hardly  took  the  trouble  to  dis- 
guise his  sinister  intentions,  since  under  so  flimsy  a 
pretext  the  names  of  three  Jesuits  were  inserted  in 
the  death-sentence  of  Aveiro,  Tavora,  aiid  so  many 
others. 

Among  the  Jesuits  condemned,  was  the  celebrated 
Gabriel  Malagrida,  whose  martyrdom  we  shall  relate. 
13 


194 


The  Jesuits. 


No  Jesuit  mounted  the  scaffold  at  Belem.  It 
was  only  on  the  28th  of  June  that  the  Minister 
launched  against  this  Order  the  edict  of  general  pro- 
scription. The  intervening  months  the)'  had  passed 
in  new  and  old  prisons,  subjected  to  the  greatest  in- 
dignities. The  "  Killer  of  Fathers,"  as  he  was  for  a 
long  time  termed  in  Uruguay,  had  richly  earned  his 
title  ;  during  the  persecutions  directed  by  him  against 
the  establishments  of  the  Order  in  South  America, 
several  professed  members,  and  numbers  of  novices 
or  brothers,  without  counting  the  dirong  of  native 
Christians  who  were  of  the  one  great  family  of  Jesus, 
watered  with  their  blood  the  soil  of  the  New  World 
which  they  had  fertilized  by  their  labor,  and  which  the 
violence  of  Portuguese  myrmidons  again  made  sterile  ; 
but  this  was  only  a  feeble  imitation  in  its  slaughters 
and  spoliations  of  the  bloody  drama  enacted  in  the 
mother-country. 

Pombal  was  intoxicated  with  the  evil  of  his  own 
creating  ;  rage  had  mounted  to  his  brain  and  produced 
delirium  ;  he  saw  only  through  a  medium  of  blood. 

Others  before  him,  and  from  remote  ages,  have 
made  use  of  the  prison  as  a  deadly  instrument  of 
punishment ;  but  it  was  reserved  for  him  to  perfect 
this  base  and  barbarous  means  to  such  a  decree  that 

o 

eight  hundred  unfortunates  alone  survived  the  dun- 
geons which  had  enclosed  nearly  six  thousand  victims. 
The  historians  have  produced  divers  letters  of  these 


Pombal. 


195 


captives,  more  calculated  to  excite  pity  than  the  living 
deaths  of  the  "Leads  of  Venice."'^  These  are  not  all 
written  by  Jesuits  ;  but  there  is  a  letter  from  one  of 
the  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  which  has  be- 
come celebrated  for  the  admirable  gentleness  which  it 
expressed,  though  written  in  the  midst  of  unheard-of 
torments.  It  is  signed  by  Father  Laurent  Kaulen,  who 
denominates  himself  "  Captive  of  Jesus  Christ,"  and 
is  dated  from  the  prison  or  Fort  of  St.  Julien  at  Lis- 
bon, the  12th  of  October,  1766.  At  that  time,  this 
innocent  sufferer,  or  rather  saint,  had  already  passed 
seven  years  in  chains,  and  this  without  even  giving 
utterance  to  a  single  complaint,  only  praying  night 
and  day  for  his  persecutor ;  earnestly  entreating  the 
infinite  mercy  of  God  in  behalf  of  Don  Sebastian  de 
Carvalho,  Marquis  of  Pombal, 

But  how  could  it  be  expected  that  Pombal  and  his  1 
kind  should  credit  such  things ;  in  conscience,  how 
could  you  expect  it  ?  This  pardon  in  the  midst  of 
tortures  surpasses  the  limits  of  the  probable,  and  I  am 
afraid  that  there  is  a  dash  of  malice  in  the  provoking 
pleasure  which  I  experience  in  making  myself  appear 
as  a  hypocrite  in  their  eyes,  by  exalting,  as  I  do,  such 
apparent  hypocrisy  ! 

Jesuits  !  Jesuits  !  Jesuits  !  Assassins  who  never  as- 
sassinate, but  are  ever  assassinated  ;  haughty  ones  who 


*  Dungeons  under  the  roof. 


196 


The  Jesuits. 


kiss  the  earth ;  ambitious  ones  who  vow  to  accept 
neither  honors  nor  high  places  ;  calumniators  who  are 
steeped  in  calumny,  and  absorb  it  without  contradic- 
tion, who  return  benefits  for  injuries ;  impossible  i 
incredible  men  !  heirs  of  divine  infamy  !  I  can  not 
comprehend  you  fully,  since  it  is  necessary  to  be  a 
saint  in  order  to  sound  the  depths  of  your  consciences  ; 
but  I  understand  enough  to  kindle  within  my  heart  an 
ardent  admiration  for  you,  and  to  make  me  experience 
a  perhaps  culpable  pride  in  proclaiming  it  with  all  the 
strength  of  my  voice. 

I  do  not  ask  for  your  famous  secret;  I  believe  I 
know  it;  my  crucifix  has  told  it  me;  but  I  conjure 
you,  Jesuits,  oh  !  Jesuits,  abhorred  by  the  large  class  of 
writers  who  act  consistently  with  the  character  which 
they  assume,  and  tenderly  cherished  by  me,  who  once 
essayed  to  despise  you  ;  (alas  !  how  difficult  I  found 
it)  ;  confide  to  me  only,  whisper  low  in  my  ear,  I  will 
not  repeat  it ;  reveal  to  me,  ye  assassins  of  kings,  who 
protect  and  love  you,  what  prevented  you  from  plant- 
ing ten,  twenty,  one  hundred,  even  a  thousand  of  your 
historical  poignards  in  the  bosom  of  this  Pombal  ? 

Was  it  the  fact  of  your  incurable  dissimilation  ?  Is 
it  in  order  to  more  completely  mystify  the  world,  ye 
astonishing  jugglers,  that  ye  slay  your  friends  and  al- 
low your  enemies  to  live  unmolested?  .... 

Pombal  lived  to  complete  his  eighty-second  year. 
While  directing  the  pistol-shots  against  the  poor  miser- 


Po7nbal. 


197 


able  King  Joseph,  your  penitent,  do  you,  then,  ad- 
minister to  Pombal  surreptitiously,  traitorously,  Jesuit- 
ically,  some  philter  to  produce  long  life  ? 

I  must  confess  to  having  experienced  a  sentiment 
of  impatience,  even  of  indignation,  in  .reading  the  too 
beautiful  letter  of  Father  Laurent  Kaulen,  from  whom 
seven  awful  years  of  captivity  could  not  extort  the 
least  expression  of  bitterness,  but  the  contrary.  I 
should  have  bowed  to  the  earth  in  reverence  before 
the  superhuman  grandeur  of  this  soul,  I  who  can 
readily  believe  it,  and  experience  a  proud  satisfaction 
in  asserting  my  belief,  and  a  pity  not  unmingled  with 
contempt  for  those  who  can  not  credit  it ;  I  should 
have  bowed  down,  I  repeat,  and  I  do  not  say  that  I 
have  not  done  so. 

But  across  my  admiration  as  a  Christian,  a  senti- 
ment altogether  human  passes,  and  I  question  if  the 
heroism  of  the  martyrs  had  the  right  to  encourage  in 
this  way  the  violence  of  their  persecutors. 

Is  it  meet  that  the  miraculous  charity  of  the  saint 
be  prolonged  to  the  point  of  fomenting  the  impious 
audacity  of  the  persecutor  ? 

There  are  times  when  I  am  irresistibly  seized  by 
the  thought  that  the  Jesuits  did  not  oppose  sufficient 
resistance  to  the  Marquis  of  Pombal ;  that  there  was 
a  weakness  on  their  part,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Church 
herself,  both  in  regard  to  the  Portuguese  Minister  and 
to  Choiseul,  his  less  daring  imitator,  and  all  the  other 


The  Jesuits, 


sanguinary  despots  who  followed  in  the  way  of  murder 
and  spoliation. 

Sublime  weakness  !  says  an  eminent  writer ;  but  I 
question  if  weakness  be  ever  sublime. 

The  letter  of  Father  Kaulen  is  cited  at  length  in 
the  "Journal  of  Literature  and  Art,"  published  by  the 
Protestant,  Christopher  de  Murr.  It  awakened  a  deep 
and  sorrowful  interest  throughout  Europe,  and  only 
shortly  preceded  the  fall  of  Pombal. 

Written  from  the  "depths  of  a  subterranean  dun- 
geon, infected  with  disease,  where  the  water  pene- 
trates, rotting  away  the  garments,"  and  leaving  the 
prisoner  nearly  naked;  tended  by  "an  extremely  hard- 
hearted jailor,  who  did  all  in  his  power  to  increase 
the  sufferings  of  these  unfortunates,  already  so  weighted 
with  misery,"  while  to  crown  all,  "  they  were  offered 
their  liberty  and  all  kinds  of  good  treatment  if  they 
would  abjure  their  Institute."  Is  it  necessary  to  state 
that  none  took  advantage  of  this  offer  ? 

In  this  prison  of  St.  Julien,  where  even  the  conso- 
lation of  the  Eucharist  was  wanting  to  the  agonizing, 
where  air,  garments,  and  even  bread,  which  was  only 
measured  out  in  sufficient  quantity  to  barely  sustain  life 
in  these  hideous  dungeons,  where  all  was  lacking  save 
cruel  treatment,  of  which  there  was  a  prodigal  excess, 
there  were  twenty-seven  Fathers  of  the  Province  of 
Goa,  in  Hindostan  ;  one  of  the  Province  of  Malabar, 
ten  of  that  of  Portugal,  nine  of  Brazil,  twenty-three  of 


Pombal. 


199 


Maragnon,  ten  of  Japan,  twelve  of  China;  in  all, 
eighty-two. 

"  In  this  number  there  were  one  Italian,  thirteen 
Germans,  three  Chinese,  fifty-four  Portuguese,  two 
Spaniards,  and  three  Frenchmen."  The  Frenchmen 
were  reclaimed,  not,  be  it  understood,  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  M.  de  Choiseul,  but  by  the  queen,  Marie  Lec- 
zinska,  in  person. 

Out  of  this  number  of  eighty-two,  thirty-seven  Fa- 
thers died  martyrs  in  the  prison.  In  the  dungeons  of 
Azeitao,  which  contained  seventy-three,  thirty-one  Fa- 
thers perished  under  the  weight  of  their  sufferings. 
The  "  Matador  dos  Padres  "  merited  his  name  ea^ually 
well  in  Europe  as  in  the  New  World. 

In  the  long  list  of  martyrs  appear  the  names  of 
three  cousins  of  Pombal,  Christopher  and  Jean  de 
Carvalho,  who  perished  in  the  dungeons  of  Azeitao, 
and  Joachim  de  Carvalho,  who  died  in  the  prison  of 
Almeida.  It  numbers,  besides,  one  Albuquerque, 
four  of  the  name  of  da  Costa,  one  da  Cunha,  one  Fon- 
seca,  and  one  Castro.  This  very  incomplete  list  is 
taken  from  the  Protestant  Journal  of  Murr.'^  If  we 
add  to  these  the  victims  who  perished  at  sea,  in  the 
holds  of  ships,  and  in  the  other  prisons,  we  will  arrive 
at  seven  hundred,  the  total  number,  as  set  forth  by 
Father  Oliveira,  in  his  memorial  to  Queen  Maria.f 

*  For  the  year  1780. 

f  Journal  of  Murr,  Vol.  X.,  p.  149. 


200 


The  Jesuits. 


Besides  these,  a  great  number  of  other  Fathers  had 
been  stowed  away  without  provisions,  in  merchant 
vessels,  to  be  thrown  on  the  shores  of  Italy,  after  the 
edict  of  proscription.  The  number  of  these  exiles, 
counting  those  from  Brazil  and  the  other  Portuguese 
colonies,  is  estimated  at  two  thousand,  and  this  was 
only  the  overflow  of  the  prisons  which  remained  full. 

Among  those  who  remained  prisoners,  was  Father 
Joseph  Moreiro ;  notwithstanding  the  supplications  of 
the  queen  herself,  in  vain  did  the  wife  of  Joseph  beg 
with  tears  the  liberty  of  the  friend  who  has  so  long 
directed  her  conscience  ;  Pombal  was  absolute  master. 

The  Pope,  Clement  XIII.,  protested ;  Pombal 
evoked  before  his  eyes  the  spectre  of  a  schism  with 
which  he  would  rend  Portugal,  and  the  Pope  was 
hushed.  By  way  of  thanks  for  his  silence,  Pombal 
insolently  dismissed  his  ambassador,  and  confiscated 
the  goods  of  the  Jesuits.  (1761). 

There  are  some  "  imaginative  writers,"  who  in  re- 
counting these  events  make  Pombal  the  victim  and 
the  Jesuits  the  persecutors. 

When  there  is  question  of  them,  no  audacity  is  too 
great  for  error.  In  reality,  far  from  shrinking,  they 
did  not  even  attempt  to  parry  the  blows  which  crushed 
them. 

It  may  be  said  that  in  Portugal,  the  Jesuits  were 
defended  only  by  the  Holy  See,  who  feebly,  but  in  a 


PoinbaL 


201 


paternal  spirit,  combated  for  them.  As  for  them- 
selves, they  had  strength  only  to  die. 

Among  the  victims  of  the  "  Killer  of  Fathers,"  the 
most  illustrious  is  Gabriel  Malagrida,  whom  Pombal, 
with  awful  irony,  and  in  spite  of  his  determined  par- 
tisanship of  so-called  "  liberal  ideas,"  vowed,  to  em- 
ploy his  own  words,  to  "  bind  upon  the  funeral  pile  of 
the  Inquisition,"  and  who  in  fact  perished  in  the 
flames  on  the  21st  of  September,  1761,  on  the  Place 
Auto-da-fe  of  Lisbon.  He  it  is  of  whom  Voltaire 
has  said  in  his  "Age  of  Louis  XV.,"  *  with  an  indig- 
nation which  seems  slightly  forced  :  "  The  criminal 
was  burnt  only  for  being  a  fool,"  which  is  a  calumny 
clothed  with  a  thin  veil  of  pity. 

Malagrida  was  no  more  a  fool  than  Francis  Xavier. 
It  is  true  that  Voltaire  afterward  gives  utterance  to 
some  more  noble  lines,  characterizing  the  conduct  of 
Pombal  in  this  infamous  affair  :  "  The  excess  of  ridi- 
cule and  absurdity  was  joined  to  the  excess  of  hor- 
ror,"t  but  one  can  denounce  the  executioner  without 
insulting  the  martyr. 

This  "  fool  "  was  one  of  the  most  glorious  mission- 
aries that  Portugal  has  ever  produced.  He  was 
seventy-three  years  of  age,  of  which  he  had  passed 
forty  in  conquering  souls  for  God,  in  savage  countries, 


*  Vol.  XXII.  of  his  Works,  p.  35. 


f  Ibid. 


202 


The  Jesuits, 


and  he  answered,  when  questioned  by  the  courtiers  of 
Jean  V.,  by  what  right  he  "  disturbed  the  peace  "  of 
these  poor  Indians,  with  the  idea  of  another  world : 
"  By  the  right  which  Jesus  has  given  me  in  dying  for 
them." 

If  the  sentiments  of  these  courtiers  savor  of  a 
more  advanced  period— for  the  century  was  at  that 
time  only  forty  years  old — and  sound  like  those  of  the 
school  of  Raynal,  I  answer  that  courtiers  have  ever 
been  philosophers,  even  as  philosophers  have  ever 
been  courtiers. 

Recognizing  only  the  one  narrow,  petty  duty  of  their 
egotism,  courtiers  of  all  epochs  have  regarded  as  fools 
those  who  have  devoted  themselves  to  others,  not  to 
further  their  own  interest,  but  for  the  advantage  of 
those  others. 

In  fact,  the  furtherance  of  one's  own  interest  alone 
excuses  an  interest  in  the  affairs  of  others ;  such  is  the 
precise  teaching  of  their  code.  According  to  this  pagan 
wisdom,  all  beyond  this  interest  is  immoral,  excess- 
ive, and  opposed  to  the  philosophic  notion  of  liberty 
which  gives  each  man  absolute  right  over  himself  and 
nothing  more,  and  which,  from  the  stand-point  of  self- 
interest,  charges  with  extravagance  the  superior  idea 
of  charity. 

To  these,  as  well  as  to  the  "  practical  minds "  of 
our  ingenious  epoch,  Malagrida  seemed,  indeed,  a  fool, 
and  God  grant  us  this  folly. 


Po7nbal. 


203 


May  God  keep  from  us  the  giand  reason  of  the 
mathematicians  who  can  calculate  algebraically,  almost 
to  a  hair's  breadth,  the  distance  which  separates  their 
spectacles  from  the  sun,  but  who,  on  the  contrary, 
know  not  how  to  resolve  the  childish  equation  of  the 
few  sad  hours  of  our  human  life  as  compared  with  an 
incommensurable  eternity  ! 

From  his  earliest  years  Malagrida  had  been  a  "  fool." 
Adventurer  of  the  Faith,  he  had  traversed  the  countries 
which  others  seek  in  quest  of  fortune,  and  in  the 
delirious  atmosphere  of  the  gold  regions  had  become 
infected  only  with  the  fever  of  charity. 

Forty  years  !  How  many  fortune-seekers,  think  you, 
spend  the  space  of  forty  years  in  coaxing  from  mother 
Earth  her  golden  favor  ? 

Malagrida  had  heaped  up  a  treasure  of  thousands  of 
souls,  and  still  his  sublime  cupidity  was  unappeased. 
He  had  suffered  all  that  a  human  creature  could  suffer ; 
hunted  like  a  wild  beast  through  the  woods  by  the 
Calvinist  preachers,  fastened  to  the  stake  by  savages, 
one  hundred  times  he  had  intoned  with  a  premature 
gladness  the  canticle  of  his  death. 

He  had  performed  miracles  like  Francis  Xavier ;  he 
had  converted  entire  countries,  and  the  odor  of  his 
sanctity  had  penetrated  across  the  sea.  His  body  was 
so  covered  with  wounds  that  the  men  who  were  charged 
with  the  duty  of  removing  his  garments  at  his  last 


204 


The  Jesuits, 


hour,  were  unable  to  count  the  scars  of  this  valiant 
soldier  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Ah  !  we  were  wrong  in  finding  fault  with  Voltaire  ; 
he  was  right ;  the  saint  was,  iwdeed,  a  fool.  Where 
would  you  find  a  single  practical  mind  to  deny  it  ? 

It  was  during  the  year  1749  ^^^^  he  was  recalled 
from  the  American  Missions  by  his  superiors,  because 
the  king,  John  V.,  asked  to  be  attended  by  him  during 
his  last  hours. 

Pombal,  then  a  restless  and  ambitious  man,  without 
success,  and  devoured  by  an  eager  thirst  for  power, 
must  have  smiled  with  disdain  at  this  phantasy  of  the 
aged  king  summoning  the  fool "  from  so  great  a  dis- 
tance. 

It  is  said  that  he  was  jealous  of  the  "  fool,"  and  that 
then  began  his  implacable  hate.  Could  he,  however, 
have  replaced  the  "fool"  beside  the  bed  of  death? 

Pope  Benedict  XIV.  said,  in  speaking  of  the  de- 
ceased king  and  his  "fool":  "Happy  king  to  be 
sustained  in  his  last  step  by  the  hand  of  an  apostle." 

Malagrida  returned  to  the  desert  just  as  the  action 
of  Joseph  Emmanuel  placed  Pombal  in  power. 

This  atrocious  Minister  had  already  been  in  office 
some  years,  when  the  queen,  wife  of  John,  manifested 
also  a  desire  to  die  sustained  and  encouraged  by  the 
"  fool." 

Joseph  gave  the  order  to  recall  Malagrida — a  pro- 
ceeding which  rendered  Pombal  uneasy,  for  the  war 


Pombal. 


205 


against  the  Jesuits  had  already  been  begun  in  the 
colonies,  and  he  feared  the  testimony  of  the  apostle 
against  him. 

He  strongly  opposed  his  return,  but  his  intentions 
were  frustrated,  and  the  ruin  of  the  saintly  old  man 
was  sworn. 

It  is  a  fact  recorded  by  several  historians  that  on 
many  occasions,  when  his  intrepid  zeal  had  brought 
him  face  to  face  with  death,  Gabriel  Malagrida,  who 
was  accustomed  to  speak  of  things  with  the  assurance 
of  a  prophet,  said  :  "  God  has  promised  me  that  I 
shall  not  fall  under  the  blows  of  the  infidels.  I  shall 
enjoy  the  supreme  happiness  of  the  supreme  ignominy. 
I  shall  end  in  a  Christian  country  in  the  midst  of 
Christians  who  will  applaud  my  sentence." 

Pombal  was  aware  of  this  prophecy.  One  day, 
when  conversing  with  Paul  Mendoza  Carvalho,  his 
brother,  and  Minister  of  his  spoliations  in  Maragnon, 
he  said  laughingly,  "The  reverend  Father  shall  have 
what  he  wishes." 

And  so  began  that  dark  work,  the  masterpiece 
of  a  demon,  that  long,  patient,  and  truly  infernal 
effort,  thanks  to  which  one  reputed  a  saint  through- 
out Christendom  ;  the  noble  defender  and  heroic  prop- 
agator of  the  Faith ;  a  prophet,  honored  after  his 
death  by  the  veneration  of  the  head  of  the  Church ; 
one  endowed  with  the  most  precious  gifts  of  Heaven, 
should  be  transformed  into  a  despicable  and  shame- 


* 


206 


The  Jesuits, 


fully  fallen  creature — no  longer  worthy  to  bind  and 
loose  souls,  a  heretic,  a  regicide,  an  impostor,  a  cor- 
rupter of  men  ;  in  short,  a  vile  and  impious  tool,  used 
to  spread  abroad  brutal  illusions  and  idiotic  phantasies 
which  suggest  the  Spirit  of  Darkness. 

I  have  said  it  was  the  masterpiece  of  a  demon.  It 
was  the  masterpiece  of  Pombal. 

Against  the  evidence  of  all  sense,  Malagrida  was 
implicated  in  the  Tavora  accusation.  It  was  merely  a 
pretext  for  closing  upon  him  the  door  of  a  dungeon. 

The  detail  of  the  cruelties  which  were  perpetrated 
upon  him,  as  he  lay  confined  twenty  feet  below  the 
light  of  day,  matters  little.  For  two  years  the  un- 
fortunate old  man  is  the  property,  the  thing  of  Pom- 
bal, more  skilled  than  the  savages  in  devising  torture. 

Did  he,  in  truth,  lose  his  reason  under  the  weight  of 
his  atrocious  torments  ? 

Do  they  enact  in  this  perpetual  night,  akin  to  that 
of  hell,  the  farce  of  apparitions,  phantoms  of  diaboli- 
cal voices  speaking  from  the  depths  of  darkness  ?  Do 
they  sound  those  awful  calls,  inhuman  awakenings  of 
the  captive  for  a  time  relieved  from  misery  by  nature, 
and  of  which  the  jailor  of  the  son  of  Louis  XVI.  in 
the  Temple,  turned  to  account,  it  is  said,  the  awful 
practice  ? 

Do  they  affect,  in  a  word,  this  great  and  lofty  mind, 
which  had  held  converse  so  long  with  God  ? 

And  does  God  permit,  for  his  greater  glory,  this  ter- 


PombaL 


207 


rible  torture  to  be  prolonged  to  such  a  degree  that 
His  servant,  under  the  stroke  of  insanity,  writes,  he 
who  lay  dying  in  such  complete  darkness,  writes,  with 
his  paralyzed  fingers,  without  paper  or  ink,  two  huge 
volumes  which  give  the  lie  direct  to  his  faith,  his  life, 
his  death — in  a  word,  to  himself! 
The  mind  refuses  to  believe  it. 

And  where  are  the  books  :  "The  Reign  of  Anti- 
Christ,"  and  "  The  Life  of  the  blessed  Saint  Anne,  dic- 
tated by  Jesus  and  His  holy  mother "  ?  No  one  has 
ever  seen  them. 

We  only  know  the  titles,  and  some  wildly  extrava- 
gant extracts. 

Do  you  not  scent  Pombal  ?  Which  is  easier  to  an 
honest  conscience  :  to  believe  that  two  great  volumes 
of  blasphemy,  not  in  existence,  are  the  works  of  a 
saint,  or  to  believe  the  extracts  fabricated  by  the  fabri- 
cator of  so  many  falsehoods,  and  who  pushed  his  au- 
dacity one  time  to  the  extent  of  fabricating  a  false 
brief  of  Clement  XHI.  ? 

Moreover,  the  extracts  were  written  by  a  master- 
hand.  Some  literary  talent  must  have  been  possessed 
by  one  who  merited  comparison  with  Cardinal  de  Riche- 
lieu, founder  of  the  French  Academy.  They  con- 
tained superbly  -  expressed  idiotism  and  immorality. 
The  former  degenerated  into  folly  (spirituaUsm  was  not 
yet  invented),  the  latter  into  utter  indecency.  Through- 
out Portugal,  a  contemptuous  laugh  was  raised  at 


2o8 


The  Jesuits. 


the  expense  of  the  Jesuit  whom  all  Portugal  had  al- 
most adored.  No  one  here  expressed  the  insulting 
pity  of  M.  de  Choiseul  and  the  Encyclopedic,"  and 
when  Pombal  referred  the  parcel  of  clumsy  blas- 
phemies to  the  Inquisition,  all  Lisbon  applauded. 

The  only  drawback  was,  that  the  tribunal  of  the  In- 
quisition refused  to  judge  in  the  matter,  because  it  saw 
clearly  through  the  fraud.  One  of  the  king's  brothers 
was  Grand  Inquisitor. 

Think  you  Pombal' s  course  was  arrested?  No,  he 
is  more  powerful  than  the  brother  of  the  king,  whom 
he  holds  fast  in  his  grip.  He  deposes  the  noble  In- 
quisitor, and  names  in  his  place  who  ? — Paul  Men- 
doza  Carvalho,  his  worthy  brother.  But  it  was  neces- 
sary that  the  chief  of  the  Inquisition  should  be  created 
by  the  Holy  See.  This  proves  no  obstacle ;  Pombal 
makes  himself  Pope  in  order  to  confer  the  office,  and 
all  goes  smoothly. 

Was  I  not  right  in  terming  the  whole  a  master- 
piece ? 

First  strangled,  then  burnt  by  the  hand  of  the 
executioner,  so  that  no  grave  may  receive  his  ashes." 
Thus  ordered  the  decree  of  the  Inquisitors !  Do  you 
recognize  the  emphasis  of  Pombal — "  The  tomb," 
"  The  ashes"  ?    He  certainly  possessed  talent ! 

On  the  evening  of  the  21st  of  September,  in  pres- 
ence of  all  Lisbon  solemnly  convoked  to  attend, 
the  aged,  illustrious,  and  holy  apostle  of  the  Faith, 


PombaL 


209 


with  his  hands  tightly  bound,  a  gag  in  his  mouth, 
and  surrounded  by  the  hideous  and  burlesque  figures 
of  demons,  an  idea  Pombal,  "  rather  too  much  inclined 
toward  the  Hberal  ideas  of  his  age,"  had  revived  from 
the  annals  of  the  Inquisition,  the  better  to  provoke 
hisses  and  insults  ;  in  a  word,  surrounded  by  tlie  ap- 
paratus of  the  bloody  comedies  of  a  former  age,  ex- 
humed by  a  philosopher,  Gabriel  Malagrida,  appeared 
upon  the  scaffold. 

How?  With  disheveled  hair,  wandering  gaze,  the 
mien  of  a  man  laboring  under  mental  aberration,  with 
the  appeai-ance  of  a.  mind  odious  enough  even  in  deg- 
radation to  have  written  "  The  Reign  of  Anti-Christ"  ? 

Far  from  it !  The  narratives  are  many  in  number, 
and  all  agree  in  testifying  the  venerable  serenity  of  the 
condemned.  He  had  the  modest  and  joyful  air  of  one 
who  consummates  the  sacrifice  which  was  the  complete 
realization  of  his  prophecy,  or  rather  of  his  passionate 
desire.  At  the  moment  of  dying  he  made  an  effort  to 
bless  the  throng,  and  his  face  shone  with  a  radiance  so 
luminous  that  the  word  miracle  "  passed  from  mouth 
to  mouth  among  the  people,  who  were  moved  by  a 
rehgious  a\ye. 

His  last  word  in  quitting  the  prison  had  been 
(Jesuit)  to  pardon  his  assassin. 

Clement  XHL,  upon  hearing  the  recital  of  his  death, 
said  :  "  This  is  a  martyr  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  Christ." 

Voltaire,  who  was  neither  a  "  fool/'  nor  cut  off  by 
14 


2IO 


The  Jesuits. 


strangling,  is  not  credited  with  having  experienced  this 
supernatural  calm  during  his  last  hours. 

And  Pombal !  Pombal  imprisoned  the  people  who 
dared  to  murmur  the  word  miracle,  and  remained  ab- 
solute master  of  Lisbon,  which  the  Queen  of  France 
justly  termed  "The  city  of  prison-hells." 

Some  years  later,  on  the  24th  of  February,  1777, 
the  unfortunate  King  Joseph  expired,  and  immediately 
a  clamor  of  reprobation  arose  against  his  Minister. 

I  draw  no  conclusion  from  this  fact ;  clamors,  to  my 
mind,  prove  nothing. 

Pombal  was  obliged  to  flee,  and  the  prisons  were 
opened,  rendering  up  the  unfortunate  from  those  dun- 
geons, where  so  many  had  languished  in  agony.  The 
queen,  Dona  Maria,  did  not  revenge  upon  Pombal  the 
oppression  she  had  sustained  from  him.  She  willed, 
only  for  the  sake  of  justice,  that  the  political  proceed- 
ings should  be  reversed.  The  greater  part  were  can- 
celed, among  others  the  decree  Aveiro-Tavora-Mal- 
agrida. 

In  consequence  of  this  tardy  and  ineffective  justice, 
Pombal,  condemned  to  numerous  restitutions,  and  pro- 
claimed "  criminal "  by  the  mouth  of  the  queen,  who 
unquestionably  showed  great  clemency  upon  this  occa- 
sion, went  to  die  in  exile  at  the  chateau  of  his  name. 
Notwithstanding  the  urgings  of  his  son,  he  refused  the 
last  sacraments. 

This  man,  undoubtedly  gifted  with  remarkable  fac- 


Pombal. 


211 


ulties,  who  had  lived  in  such  power  and  died  in  such  ob- 
scurity, had  aroused  much  hatred,  beside  his  poHtical 
animosities,  and  especially  in  his  native  town.  On  one 
hand,  the  inhabitants  of  the  little  city  of  Pombal  were 
opposed  to  the  idea  of  his  body  being  interred  in  their 
church ;  on  the  other,  the  Marquis  of  Villanova,  Min- 
ister of  State,  would  not  permit  the  mortal  remains  of 
his  predecessor  to  be  transported  to  Lisbon,  where  a 
gorgeous  tomb,  raised  by  Pombal  himself  in  the  time 
of  his  grandeur,  awaited  them. 

The  body  was  simply  inclosed  in  a  coffin,  draped 
with  a  mortuary  cloth,  and  deposed  in  the  Convent  of 
the  Franciscans  at  Pombal. 

The  working  of  events  moves  but  slowly  in  Portugal, 
as  the  statue  in  the  square  of  Lisbon  bears  testimony, 
which  still  shows  the  Minister  of  Joseph  Emmanuel  at 
the  feet  of  his  master,*  after  so  many  and  glaring 
condemnations.  The  coffin  of  Pombal  remained  fifty 
years  above  the  earth  literally  without  burial. 

We  relate  here  a  curious  fact,  apropos  of  which, 
however,  we  pronounce  no  eulogy,  because  it  is  easy 
enough  to  pardon  the  dead.  What  was  sublime,  was 
the  prayer  of  the  dying  Malagrida  for  the  triumphant 
Pombal. 

The  following  is  the  fact,  which  may,  perhaps,  seem 


*  It  is  a  bitter  enough  irony  ;  for  the  sake  of  truth,  the 
group  should  be  reversed. 


212 


The  Jesuits. 


curious:  In  1829,  the  date  of  the  official  return  of 
the  Jesuits  into  Portugal,  Father  Delvaux  was  charged 
with  the  reinstalhnent,  which  took  place  with  concur- 
rence alike  of  the  Government  and  of  the  people.  He 
set  out  from  Lisbon  with  an  ample  escort,  and  began 
his  journey  through  the  diocese  of  Coimbra.  But  let 
us  see  his  account : 

"Pombal,"  he  relates  in  his  official  report,  "is  the 
first  town  in  the  diocese  of  Coimbra  after  leaving  Lis- 
bon. Now,  the  Archbishop  had  given  orders  to  all 
the  parishes  on  our  route  to  receive  us  in  triumph, 
and  in  consequence  I  was  literally  obliged  to  run 
away  from  the  ovation  in  order  to  gain  the  convent 
of  the  Franciscans,  (The  reader  will  recollect  that  it 
was  here  the  body  of  Pombal  lay  deposed).  I  ran 
thither,  however  ;  it  was  a  need  of  my  heart ;  I  cele- 
brated mass ;  I  will  not  describe  what  I  experienced 
in  offering  the  victim  of  propitiation,  the  Lamb  who 
prays  on  the  cross  for  his  executioners,  in  offering,  I 
repeat,  the  holy  sacrifice  for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of 
Don  Sebastian  Carvalho,  Marquis  of  Pombal,  corpore 

For  fifty  years  his  body  had  waited  here  the  return 
of  the  Society  from  the  exile  to  which  his  unrelenting 
cruelty  had  condemned  them,  and  whose  return,  more- 
over, he  had  himself  predicted. 


In  presence  of  the  body. 


Pombal. 


213 


Whilst  I  was  discharging  this  religious  duty,  the 
triumph  which  we  were  forced  to  accept,  or  rather 
endure,  was  in  progress  throughout  the  city  and  its  en- 
virons.   All  the  bells  were  rung. 

The  Prior  Archpriest  came  in  solemn  procession  to 
conduct  our  Fathers  to  the  church,  which  was  illumi- 
nated. The  whole  was  like  a  dream.  If  only  the 
pitiful  remains  of  the  once  potent  Minister  could  have 
spoken. 

I  repeat,  that  to  my  mind,  sublimity  of  soul  was 
here  easily  attained ;  but  I  can  also  add,  that  in  fol- 
lowing the  history  of  this  Order,  so  proverbially  vin- 
dictive, according  to  the  Hterature  which  cuts  it  up  in 
order  to  sell  the  pieces  to  the  voraciously  morbid 
appetite  of  its  readers,  I  have  found  only  this  decided 
instance  of  the  "Vengeance  of  the  Jesuits." 


VI. 

A  BRIEF  GLANCE  AT  CHOISEUL, 
D'ARANDA,  AND  TANUCCI. 

I  HAVE  given  considerable  relative  importance  to 
the  drama  of  Lisbon,  because  the  "great  Marquis," 
if  not  the  most  redoubtable,  was,  at  least,  the  nicst 
celebrated  among  the  political  enemies  of  the  Order 
of  Jesus,  even  as  Pascal  personified,  in  the  community 
of  readers,  the  type  of  the  enemy  of  the  Jesuits  in 
polemics. 

I  am  certainly  far  from  comparing  all  the  statesmen 
who  have  shown  enmity  to  the  Order,  to  Don  Sebas- 
tian de  Carvalho,  "the  killer  of  the  Fathers,"  and 
still  less  disposed  to  honor  the  many  libellists  who 
have  calumniated  the  Order,  by  exalting  their  medi- 
ocrity to  the  height  of  the  genius  of  Pascal ;  but  it  is 
certain  that,  in  these  two  men,  so  widely  different,  is 
personified  the  persecuting  hate  humbly  imi)lored  from 
God,  and  obtained  by  Saint  Ignatius,  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Order.  Nor  can  I  determine  which  of 
these  two  men  gained  to  the  Institution  the  more  good, 
or  the  more  evil,  since  that  may  not  be  called  abso- 
lutely bad  which  is  the  very  essence  of  a  work,  and 
the  special  grace  attached  to  its  creation. 
(214) 


Choiseul,  D'Aranda,  and  TafMcci.  215 

However,  from  a  serious  consideration  of  facts,  it 
appears  that  the  furious  attack  of  Pombal,  which 
opened  the  breach  to  all  the  other  attacks,  and  visibly 
decided  the  nature  of  the  battle,  was  a  mere  isolated 
blow,  and  that  the  Minister  of  a  little  country  ignored 
at  the  time  the  tactics  of  the  great  Protestant  League, 
which  held  in  its  snare  all  the  kings,  and  also  the 
rash  plan  of  the  Princes  of  the  House  of  Bourbon, 
united  in  a  family  pact  for  the  purpose  of  imprudently 
throwing  off  what  they  termed  the  "  "^oke  of  the 
Church." 

The  fault  was  not  entirely  due  to  them  ;  an  irresist- 
ible movement  swept  them  along.  It  is  necessary  to 
take  into  consideration  their  constitutional  short-sight- 
edness, which  never  permitted  them  to  see  three  steps 
before  them  ;  their  courts,  swarming  hives  of  noble 
bees  ;  their  Parliaments,  clothed  with  false  gravity 
and  dyed  in  th|  Jansenist  vat ;  and  their  Ministers, 
wholly  or  half  philosophers,  who,  while  eagerly  pursu- 
ing  chimerical  advantages,  rushed  into  the  reality  of 
their  ruin. 

It  is  certainly  a  remarkable  thing  to  observe  how 
unanimous  were  these  unfortunate  kings  in  choosing, 
for  men  in  whom  to  repose  confidence,  creatures  de- 
voured by  ambition,  without  either  principle  or  faith — 
Choiseul,  Alba,  Aranda,  Tanucci,  and  du  Tillot ;  four 
examples  of  the  same  infidelity.  And  equally  strange 
is  the  unanimity  of  these  pretended  "  Free  Thinkers" 


2l6 


The  Jesuits. 


in  working  toward  their  own  fall  with  an  activity,  ap 
eagerness,  and  a  passion  truly  worthy  of  pity  ! 

But  can  not  this  be  said,  with  equal  reason,  of  the 
Protestants  themselves  ?  and,  excepting  some  few  who 
were  possessed  of  the  perception  and  the  malice  of 
the  demon,  can  we  not  place  in  the  ranks  of  these 
blii:ypd  ones  the  entire  band  of  philosophers,  nay, 
even  the  more  than  philosophers,  the  very  demolishers, 
by  profession  and  by  trade,  who  became,  in  reality, 
frantic  devotees  of  privilege  as  soon  as  they  possessed 
therein  a  greater  or  lesser  part  ? 

Fancy  we,  for  example,  the  womanish  terror  and 
horrible  disgust  that  would  have  seized  Voltaire  could 
he  have  seen,  were  it  only  in  a  dream,  the  bloody, 
hirsute  arms  of  his  daughter,  the  Revolution  ! 

No  ;  none  among  these  men  had  fathomed  the 
people. 

All  played  on  their  poor  game  of  polished  indolence 
or  unrestful  covetousness,  emulating  each  other  in 
elbowing  aside  the  things  which  restrained  them, 
which  ruled  them,  which  maintained  them  in  the  right 
and  detested  road,  indifferent  to  God,  or  mocking 
Him,  or  hating  Him  ;  all  ignorant,  even  the  learned  ; 
all  tainted  with  the  leprosy  of  the  egotism  of  this  age, 
which  lightly  accepted  the  end  of  the  world,  provided 
the  end  of  the  world  but  came  not  until  the  to-morrow 
of  its  death  ;  all  singing,  jeering,  railing,  blaspheming, 
doubting,  or  pretending  to  doubt,  in  order  to  appear 


Ckoiseul,  D'Aranda^  and  Tanucci.      21  y 

consistent ;  respecting  nothing,  not  even  their  moth- 
ers, and  that,  perhaps,  not  without  reason,  so  aban- 
doned had  woman  become,  and  so  low  had  marriage, 
which  is  the  human  sanctity  of  woman,  fallen  ! 

Never  has  there  been  seen  a  time  so  utterly  void  of 
God's  influence  ;  never  an  hour  so  manifestly  marked 
by  the  seal  of  agony  and  final  impenitence. 

I  have  regretted,  in  my  own  mind,  the  lack  of  com- 
petency to  treat,  as  it  should  be  treated,  the  question 
of  whether  the  Jesuits,  and  above  them,  the  Church, 
could  at  this  time  have  acted  otherwise  than  they  did, 
and  better  combated  the  evil  ?  But  to  what  pur- 
pose ?  The  hand  of  Providence  is  here  in  a  special 
manner  visible.  The  close  of  this  epoch  resembles 
an  old  age  without  dignity,  broken  down  by  its  vices, 
and  infirm  to  the  point  of  repugnance,  suddenly  seized 
by  a  convulsion.  It  gives  forth  a  final  cry,  then  is 
silent,  and  stirs  no  more.    It  has  lived. 

Now  listen  to  what  say  the  professors  invested  with 
the  requisite  authority  to  entitle  them  to  compile  Dic- 
tionaries" for  the  instruction  of  youth.  They  say 
that  this  dead  beast  called  itself  "the  Old  World." 
And  they  show,  I  know  not  what,  born  at  the  same 
moment  of  its  death,  known  as  "  the  New  World." 

This  is  very  good  as  a  metaphor ;  but  do  not  be  de- 
luded and  awed  by  the  bombast  of  these  high-sounding 
phrases,  whose  sense  could  be  contained  in  the  hol- 
lowed-out  head  of  a  pin.    Let  the  garrulous  who  hope 


2i8  The  Jesuits. 

to  convince  by  the  sonorous  sound  of  their  words,  talk 
on.  They  do  less  harm  than  people  imagine,  for  with- 
out them  there  would  be  exactly  the  same  number  of 
obtuse  intelligences,  and  common  fools  imagining 
themselves  learned. 

Let  these  empty  talkers  beat  their  drums  and  Hsten 
to  the  sound  of  their  own  noise. 

Nothing  is  dead  ;  nothing  has  been  born.  The  Old 
World  is  only  the  world,  as  is  the  New.  Both  are  of 
the  same  age,  and  these  interments  and  these  bap- 
tisms of  worlds  are  but  so  much  material  to  assist 
these  phrase-sounders. 

There  was  one  birth  of  time  in  Adam,  one  baptism 
of  time  in  Christ,  and  between  them  a  deluge  which 
will  never  return. 

At  best,  the  great  age  of  the  world  subjects  it  to 
crises  which  are  unavoidable,  and  to  which  only  one 
remedy  is  appHcable — faith. 

Behold  the  truth ;  we  are  very  old.  This  is  the 
question  : 

Has  the  Revolution  revived  the  faith  ?  Perhaps. 
Then  be  the  Revolution  blessed,  even  amid  its  pro- 
found shame  ! 

Has  the  Revolution  lessened  faith?  Then  be  it 
accursed,  even  amid  its  incontestable  grandeur ! 

But  I  do  not  credit  the  decrease  of  faith,  and  the 
progress  of  faith  is  proved  to  me  by  evidence : 

God  is  more  with  us,  unfortunate  and  humbled  as 


Chotseulj  U Aranda^  and  Tanucci.  2ig 


we  are,  than  He  was  among  our  more  fortunate 
fathers ;  God  among  us  is  more  skillfully  attacked, 
and  better  defended ;  since  it  is  necessary  to  employ 
these  imperfect  expressions  to  designate  the  undying 
battle  of  Doubt  against  Faith — that  grand  conflict  of 
the  two  standards  which  the  ecstasy  of  Ignatius  viewed 
on  the  mystical  plain. 

God  draws  us  to  Him.  Our  lethargy  has  passed, 
startled  as  much  by  His  anger  as  by  His  mercy.  God 
works  great  and  hidden  things  within  us — He  who  gives 
children  to  fill  with  joy  the  desolate  mansion  of  the 
sterile. 

It  is  the  seed-time,  and  the  Father  of  the  family  is 
at  work.  As  ever,  a  portion  of  the  seed  sown  by 
Him  falls  by  the  wayside,  and  is  devoured  by  the 
birds ;  a  portion  on  the  stones,  and  becomes  the  prey 
of  the  parched  earth  ;  a  portion  among  thorns,  which 
choke  the  young  shoot ;  and  finally,  a  portion  on  the 
good  earth,  which  recompenses  all  losses,  and  yields 
grain  an  hundredfold  to  the  sower. 

But  in  the  good  earth,  even,  behold  how  the  enemy 
unhappily  steals  in  and  traitorously  sows  tares  above 
the  wheat  ! 

O  God  !  how  difficult  to  bring  the  seed  to  fruit  ! 

If  the  germ  of  your  word  escape  the  voracious 
birds,  our  vices  multiply  Hke  the  sparrows  of  the  way 
side  ;  if  it  survive  the  noonday  heat,  it  is  burned  by 
our  passions;  if  it  elude  even  the  thorns,  those  tangles 


220 


The  Jesuits, 


of  human  interest,  covetoiisness,  ambition,  and  pride, 
it  is  not  even  yet  safe,  for  the  enemy  who  never  sleeps, 
seeks  at  night  to  over-sow  it  with  tares  ;  that  useless, 
and  therefore  noxious  plant,  of  which  the  stalk  is 
straight,  and  the  flower  radiant  and  beautiful,  but 
which  affords  nourishment  to  neither  man  nor  beast ; 
true  symbol  of  error  adorned  with  false  freedom,  and 
heresy  concealing  its  old  leprosy  under  the  seducing 
colors  of  novelty. 

O  God !  how  will  it  ever  ripen  into  the  wheat  of 
your  word  ? 

It  will  ripen,  however  ;  it  has  ripened,  despite  the 
pillaging  sparrows,  the  dryness,  and  the  tangles,  which 
are  the  war  of  nature  ;  despite  even  the  tares  which 
are  the  war  of  wicked  men.  It  has  ripened,  and  will 
ripen,  because  your  mercy,  saving  Jesus,  perpetually 
opposes  virtue  to  nature,  and  the  caution  of  super- 
natural devotion  to  the  wiles  of  the  enemy  wlio  in- 
cites to  revolt  the  things  of  nature  against  the  Master 
of  Nature. 

The  frail  stalk  and  the  wheat  which  bends  it  have  a 
providential  prop  ;  until  the  end  of  time,  education 
will  cherish  the  wheat,  preaching  will  weed  the  field, 
and  the  harvest,  though  unceasingly  impoverished,  will 
be  always  plentiful. 

Since  the  day  when  the  chief  workman,  employed 
by  the  nocturnal  sower,  placed  in  our  French  earth 
such  an  abundance  of  tares  that  the  harvest  was  for  a 


Choiseul,  UAranda,  and  Tanucci.  221 


time  choked,  and  the  famished  world  was  afflicted  with 
a  faUing  sickness,  beHeve  you  that  the  tares  have  yet 
retained  the  enormous  place  in  the  field  which  was 
given  them  by  the  traitor  ? 

No  !  the  tares  have  disappeared,  and  by  this  I  un- 
derstand the  special  tares  sowed  by  M.  de  Choiseul 
and  his  colleagues,  the  Jansenist  tares — which  is  so 
utterly  dead  that  we  have  no  longer  a  market  of  tares; 
it  has  disappeared  completely,  this  noxious  invading 
herb,  once  so  flourishing,  which  infested  the  nobility, 
the  clergy,  the  Parliament,  the  Bourgeois  class,  and 
the  Government  alike ;  so  thoroughly  has  it  been  rooted 
out,  that  the  youth  who  study  the  "  Dictionnaires," 
seek  vainly  its  definition  in  the  "Dictionaries  of 
youth." 

The  candidates  for  degrees  rebel  when  they  are 
served  so  mischievous  a  turn  as  to  be  questioned  on 
such  antiquated  subjects. 

Who  has  ever  seen  a  live  Jansenist  ?  There  may 
still  remain  one  in  the  museums,  but  it  must  command 
an  immense  price,  and  collectors  only  who  have  been 
happy  enough  to  exhume  from  its  tertiary  the  breast- 
bone of  an  Epiornis,  or  the  first  teeth  of  a  Mega- 
therium, can  hope  to  procure  in  exchange  so  great  a 
curiosity. 

It  was  the  thing,  however,  of  which  one  revolving 
century  has  sufficed  to  destroy  the  last  trace  ;  it  was 
tares  of  these  lost  species  whose  growth  endured  long 


222 


The  Jesuits. 


enough  to  impair  the  harvest  of  intelligence,  and 
produce  a  long  and  mortal  famine  in  human  hearts. 

Blind  and  odious  instruments  of  Protestantism, 
which  itself  pursued  with  closed  eyes  an  unknown 
route,  the  Jansenists,  enemies  of  the  Protestants,  and 
of  the  Philosophers,  renewed  the  coalition  of  the 
Pharisees  and  Sadducees  of  which  the  Gospel  speaks, 
for  a  united  attack  upon  the  Society  of  Jesus,  the  ob- 
ject of  their  implacable  jealousy. 

They  surrounded  the  throne,  they  infested  the 
Parliaments,  they  governed  the  Ministry,  and  their 
austerity  did  not  prevent  them  from  being  perfectly 
acquainted  with  the  geography  of  that  Armidian  isle 
where  Pompadour,  the  middle-aged  enchantress,  misled 
the  premature  decrepitude  of  the  king.  A  league  was 
formed  between  this  unfortunate  woman  (whose  name 
we  have  too  often  repeated),  the  directing  Minister, 
the  Parliaments,  and  the  Jansenists,  among  whom  a 
man  of  severe  virtue,  Francis  de  Fitz-James,  Bishop 
of  Soissons,  was  the  first  to  demand  the  suppression 
of  the  Order,  even  while  making  this,  to  say  the  least, 
strange  reservation:  "We  willingly  render  them  the 
justice  of  admitting  that  there  is  not  a  single  Order 
in  Europe  whose  Religious  are  more  regular  and  aus 
tere  in  their  manners." 

Pascal,  at  least,  would  have  reviled  them. 

But  let  us  turn  to  the  Protestants  :  Schlosser  first, 
Professor  of  History  at  the  University  of  Heidelberg; 


Ckoiseul,  D'Aranda,  and  Tanucci.  223 

*'The  diverse  courts  of  the  House  of  Bourbon,"  he 
says,  "not  seeing  that  they  would  place  instruction  in 
widely  different  hands  (from  those  who  had  hitherto 
formed  the  minds  of  the  young  generation),  united 
themselves  against  the  Jesuits."* 
•  "This  blindness  of  royalty  was  patent  to  the 
Philosophers,  and  afforded  them  hearty  amusement. 
*  D'Alembert  uttered  real  cries  of  joy,' "  Schlosser 
adds,  speaking  of  the  Jansenists.  "They  had  de- 
prived the  Jesuits,  by  means  which  were  often  equivo- 
cal, of  the  acquired  esteem  of  centuries."t 

And  Schoell :  "  The  Jansenists,  under  the  appear- 
ance of  great  religious  zeal,  and  the  Philosophers, 
while  declaiming  the  most  philanthropic  sentiments, 
worked  steadily  toward  the  reversal  of  Pontifical  au- 
thority. But,  in  order  to  set  aside  the  ecclesiastical 
power,  it  was  necessary  to  isolate  it  by  depriving  it 
of  the  support  of  this  phalanx  which  had  devoted  itself 
to  the  defense  of  the  Pontifical  Throne." 

The  literal  truth  of  history  is  contained  in  these 
avowals.  Some  lines  further  on,  Schoell  continues : 
"  The  imprudences  committed  by  some  of  the  mem- 
bers furnished  the  arms  with  which  to  combat  the 
Order,  and  the  war  against  the  Jesuits  became  popu- 
lar ;  or  rather,  the  persecution  of  an  Order  whose  ex- 


*  Schlosser,  Vol.  I. 

t  History  of  Courts,  Vol.  XLIV. 


224 


The  Jesuits. 


istence  was  incorporated  with  that  of  the  Catholic 
religion  and  the  throne,  became  a  title  which  gave  it 
the  right  to  call  oneself  philosopher." 

The  style  is  Teutonic,  but  says  much. 

"They  held  in  their  hands  the  future  generations. 
Nothing  hostile  to  the  Holy  See,  and  consequently  to 
religion,  could  prosper  as  long  as  the  Jesuits  were 
there."  .  .  .  .  "  The  Jesuits  were  inmiovable  in  their 

faith  They  conspired  against  them  and  declared 

them  guilty,  since  they  refused  to  be  associated  in  the 
plots  which  menaced  the  Holy  See  and  the  Mon- 
archies." 

Marvelous  to  relate,  the  Monarchies  themselves 
joined  against  them,  conspiring  against  their  most  firm 
defenders. 

"  Qtios  vidt  perdere "  .  .  .  .  the  poet  has  said, 
speaking  of  the  time  of  Jupiter.  God  first  deprives 
of  sense  those  whom  His  providence  has  condemned. 

The  kings  began  the  work  of  their  slow  suicide. 

In  the  midst  of  the  gloomy  tidings  which  daily 
arrived  from  Portugal,  whetting  the  curiosity  of  the 
public,  diverting  the  cfmiii  of  court,  inspiring  the  idea 
of  emulation  within  the  breast  of  the  Parliaments, 
and  suggesting  to  M,  de  Choiseul  a  way  of  arriving  at 
the  proposed  ends  without  having  to  wade  toward 
it  through  blood,  the  affair  of  Father  de  Lavalette 
occurred,  which,  very  simple  in  the  beginning,  assum- 
ed most  aggravated  proportions,  by  a  sudden  change 


Choiseulj  UAranda,  and  Tanucci.  225 


of  circumstances,  which  the  Order  was  certainly  power- 
less to  prevent,  but  to  which  no  energetic  remedy  was 
applied.  Father  de  Lavalette  was  decidedly  culpa- 
ble, if  not  as  a  man,  certainly  as  a  Religious.  To  parry 
losses  which  had  been  incurred,  not  amid  the  hazards 
of  a  loyal  war,  but  through  a  manifest  crime  against 
the  right  of  mankind,  which  has  been  added  to  the  al- 
ready long  list  of  like  misdeeds  which  History  lays  at 
the  door  of  England,*  Father  de  Lavalette  trans- 
gressed at  first  by  little,  then  still  further,  the  limits 
imposed  by  the  Rule.  He  became  a  trader ;  he  be- 
came even  a  speculator. 

Proof  exists  to  show  that  Father  Visconti,  General 
of  the  Order,  took  from  the  first  moment  the  most 
severe  measures  in  his  regard.  The  examiners  ap- 
pointed to  judge  him,  and  provided  with  most  extended 
powers,  set  out  in  good  time,  but  it  appeared  as  if 
everything  had  conspired  to  prevent  their  arrival — war, 
tempests,  captivity,  and  death. 

When  Father  de  la  Marche,  the  fifth  or  sixth  ex- 
aminer named,  at  length  arrived  in  the  Antilles  with  a 
safe  conduct  from  the  British  Government,  the  affair 
had  been  in  progress  for  seven  years. 

Father  de  la  Marche,  assisted  by  the  principal  mem- 

*  Some  writers  have  maintained  that  the  seizing  of  the 
vessels  was  a  Protestant  blow,  but  it  was  entirely  an  English 
affair,  and  the  result  of  an  old  habit:  "  Fides  anglica  merciiri- 
alis  fides." 

IS 


226 


The  Jesuits. 


bers  of  the  Order  resident  in  Martinico,  rendered  the 
celebrated  judgment  which  condemned  I.avalette  to 
both  spiritual  and  temporal  interdiction.  He  acqui- 
esced in  his  sentence,  expressly  declaring  that  he  acted 
entirely  of  himself,  without  either  the  authorization  or 
counsel  of  his  superiors. 

He  reiterated  this  assertion  in  London,  after  his  ex- 
pulsion from  the  Order,  and  always  persevered  in  the 
statement  throughout  the  numerous  actions  brought 
against  him  in  the  courts  of  law. 

Even  the  fact  of  the  judgment  rendered  by  Father 
de  la  Marche  could  not  destroy  the  credit  of  what 
has  been  termed  "  the  counting-houses  of  Father  de 
Lavalette,"  although  already  imperilled. 

The  operations  engaged  in  remained,  nevertheless, 
considerable,  and  the  closing  of  the  warehouses  which 
depressed  the  values,  thus  greatly  augmenting  the  debt, 
magnified  the  deficit  into  the  proportions  of  a  disaster. 

It  was,  however,  merely  a  loss  of  money,  which 
could  be  refunded  in  money. 

The  first  movement  of  the  General  was  to  pay  in- 
discriminately all  the  creditors,  although  the  Order 
was  not  responsible,  either  according  to  the  Constitu- 
tions, or  thfi  ordinary  jurisprudence,  but  the  members 
of  the  French  Bar  counseled  the  Society  to  delay 
payment,  and  publish  the  bankruptcy  of  Father  de 
Lavalette,  "in  order  to  bring  revindicatory  action 
against  the  British  Government." 


Choiseul,  D'Aranda^  and  Tamicci,  227 


It  is  at  this  juncture  that  perfidy,  far  greater  than 
that  of  the  English  themselves,  appears ;  for  sev 
eral  members  of  Parliament,  having  been  sounded, 
warmly  advocated  this  course.  The  trap  was  most 
invitingly  arranged.  Madame  de  Pompadour  remained 
motionless  ;  M.  de  Choiseul  feigned  to  be  particularly 
occupied  in  another  direction ;  Philosophy  remained 
concealed  in  order  to  laugh  more  heartily ;  and  Paris, 
engrossed  with  the  decree  by  which  one  hundred  and 
seventy  captains  had  been  discharged,  chanted  a 
badly-rhymed  song  which  threatened  the  "Captain 
Jesus"  in  the  name  of  the  king,  to  overthrow  "  His 
company"  too. 

The  king  slumbered. 

One  morning  the  parliamentary  trap  closed  upon 
an  imprudent  shred  of  parchment  which  had  been 
let  fall,  and  immediately  an  extraordinary  excitement 
became  visible  around  the  snare.  With  one  accord, 
Madame  de  Pompadour,  M.  le  Due,  the  Philosophers, 
the  Jansenists,  Parliament,  the  Court,  and  the  city 
stretched  their  necks  to  see  what  had  been  taken. 

It  was  nothing,  but  it  meant  everything,  and  the 
king  was  very  nearly  awakened  by  the  joyful  rumor 
which  circulated  about  his  throne,  "  The  cause  of  the 
Jesuits  was  in  Parliament." 

Under  pretense  of  judging  the  Lavalette  case,  Par- 
liament executed  a  plan,  which  it  had  been  long  con 
cocting,  and  ordained  that  a  copy  of  the  Constitutions 


228 


The  Jesuits. 


of  the  Order  be  placed  in  the  register's  office.  Fof 
the  time  the  king  was  thoroughly  awakened,  but  he 
was  soon  lulled  to  sleep  again. 

"  Madame  de  Pompadour  aspired  in  a  special  man- 
ner to  a  reputation  of  energy,  and  believed  that  an  oc- 
casion of  gaining  it  had  at  last  presented  itself,  by 
showing  that  she  understood  how  to  make  a  grand 
stroke  of  policy  in  State  affairs. 

"The  same  littleness  of  mind  also  influenced  the  Due 
de  Choiseul.  Moreover,  both  were  anxious  to  distract 
the  public  attention  from  the  events  of  the  Vv^ar."* 

Thus  says  Sismondi,  and  it  is  not  badly  put  for  a 
Genevese,  inasmuch  as  the  events  of  the  war,  which 
was  bravely  fought  on  the  battle-field  by  our  Generals 
and  soldiers,  but  directed  at  Paris  with  a  deplorable 
lack  of  ability,  were  of  a  nature  which  could  not  be 
too  speedily  forgotten. 

I  can  not  close  the  quotation  without  relating  what 
Sismondi  observes  of  the  joint  glory  of  the  favorite  and 
the  Minister  :  "  They  hoped  to  acquire  popularity  by 
flattering  at  the  same  time  the  Philosophers  and  the 
Jansenists,  and  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war  by  the 
confiscation  of  the  goods  of  a  very  wealthy  Order,  etc., 
and  thus  dispense  with  the  need  of  retrenchment,  "t 

Do  you  prefer  the  worthy  T.acretelle?  His  text  is 
the  same,  nearly  identical:  "The  Duke  de  Choiseul," 


*  French  History,  Vol.  XXIX. 


f  Ibid. 


Choiseul,  D'Arcmda,  and  TanuccL  229 


he  says  in  his  History  of  France,  during  the  eighteenth 
century,  "  and  the  Marquise  de  Pompadour  fomented 
the  hatred  against  the  Jesuits.  The  Marquise,  who 
had  never  justified  her  pretensions  to  energy  of  char- 
acter, was  impatient  to  show,  in  destroying  the  Jesuits, 
that  she  knew  how  to  make  a  telHng  stroke  in  State 
affairs.  The  Duke  de  Choiseul  was  no  less  jealous 
of  the  same  honor.  The  goods  of  the  monks  would 
serve  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  enable 
them  to  dispense  with  all  recurrence  to  reform.  To 
flatter  at  once  two  powerful  parties,  the  Philosophers 
and  Jansenists,  was  a  great  rieans  of  popularity." 

I  trust  that  none  will  accuse  me  of  serving  to  my 
readers  "  clerical  "  prose. 

Neither  Sismondi,  the  Calvinist,  nor  Lacretelle,  the 
avowed  enemy  of  those  whom,  in  order  to  better  tes- 
tify his  hatred,  he  terms  "  monks,"  are  possessed  of 
great  eloquence,  but  it  is  impossible  for  two,  either 
lofty  or  insignificant  intellects,  to  coincide  more  exactly 
in  the  terms  employed.  As  they  were  almost  con- 
temporaries, I  know  not  if  it  much  matter  which  of 
the  two  has  copied  the  other. 

But  M.  de  Choiseul  responds  to  both,  one  and  the 
other,  by  a  glaring  falsehood.  Louis  XVI.  did  not 
love  M.  de  Choiseul ;  he  had  expressed  once,  at  least, 
the  aversion  of  an  honest  man  and  a  Christian,  in  what 
may  be  called  a  terrible  fashion,  but  it  was  not  on  ac- 
count of  the  Jesuits. 


230 


The  Jesuits, 


Long  after  the  Lavalette  trial,  when  Louis  XVI. 
was  king,  M.  de  Choiseul  appealed  to  him  thus  in  his 
Justificatory  Memoir  "  :  "  They  represented  to  the 
king  that  I  was  the  author  of  the  expulsion  of  the 
Jesuits.  Chance  alone  began  this  affair;  the  action 
of  Spain  terminated  it  At  the  close  of  an  un- 
fortunate war,  overwhelmed  with  affairs,  I  viewed  only 
with  indifference  the  subsistence  or  destruction  of  a 
community  of  monks." 

I  have  cited  this  ministerial  text  only  to  show  that 
M.  le  Due,  once  fallen,  remembered  :  "  All  bad 
business  is  deniable." 

'^As  soon  as  the  Parliament  had  the  '  Constitutions ' 
in  its  hands,  it  no  longer  troubled  itself  about  the 
creditors  of  Lavalette,  who  were  never  fully  paid," 
says  Cretineau-Joly,  "not  even  after  the  confiscation 
of  the  goods  of  the  Society." 

And  the  same  author  adds  in  a  note  :* 

"  The  house  of  Martinico,  and  the  lands  of  Dom- 
inica, which  were  all  the  property  of  Lavalette,  were 
purchased  by  the  English  conquerors  at  the  price  of 
four  miUions." 

Why  did  not  Parliament  show  its  disinterestedness 
in  behalf  of  the  creditors,  the  sum  total  of  whose  debt 
amounted  to  only  two  miUions,  four  hundred  thousand 
livres  ? 


"  History  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,"  Vol.  X.,  p.  204. 


Choiseul,  UAranda,  and  Tanucci.  231 


It  made  a  great  stir  in  behalf  of  the  creditors. 

Both  Lacretelle  and  Sismondi  are  agreed  in  saying 
that  this  was  but  a  mere  pretext ;  it  was  necessary  to 
please  the  Philosophers  by  trying  to  crush  the  Church, 
to  please  the  Jansenist  Athenians  by  exiling  Aristides, 
and  "  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  war." 

The  king  moved  at  length  almost  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  affair.  He  referred  the  case  to  his  council. 
The  council  of  the  king  gave  advice  favorable  to  the 
Jesuits,  and  the  Bishops  of  France,  united  on  its  ques- 
tion, unanimously  responded  (lacking  only  six  Jan- 
senist voices)  by  a  magnificent  eulogium  of  the  Insti- 
tute. 

But  the  king  could  not  remain  awake  for  any  length 
of  time ;  as  soon  as  he  had  closed  his  eyes  once 
more,  Madame  de  Pompadour  made  a  sign  to 
Choiseul,  who  in  turn  notified  Parliament,  and  on  the 
ist  of  April,  1762,  all  the  Jesuit  colleges  were  closed. 

How  gayly  d'Alembert  announces  the  fact :  "They 
received  at  the  end  of  March  the  sad  news  of  the 
taking  of  this  colony  (Martinico.) 

They  thought  to  effect  a  diversion,  by  engaging  the 
attention  of  France  on  another  subject,  as  of  old 
Alcibiades  had  thought  to  cut  the  tail  of  his  dog,  etc., 
etc. 

He  becomes  a  prophet  in  his  joy,  and  exclaims  :  "  I 


*  D'Alembert,  "  Suppression  of  the  Jesuits,"  p.  168. 


232 


The  Jesuits. 


see  everything,  couleur  de  rose !  I  see  all  the  Jan- 
senists  dying  a  beautiful  death  next  year,  after  having 
caused  the  Jesuits  to  perish  by  a  violent  death  this 
year." 

The  Jansenists  are  dead  in  truth,  and  forever — and 
the  Jesuits  live. 

More  remains  to  be  told,  however.  The  voice  of 
the  clergy  of  France  penetrated  even  to  the  foot  of 
the  throne.  Sire,  religion  recommends  to  you  its 
defenders,  the  Church  its  ministers,  Christian  souls, 
the  depositories  of  the  secrets  of  their  consciences  ;  a 
great  number  of  your  subjects,  the  masters  who  have 
educated  them ;  the  youth  of  your  kingdom,  those 
who  form  their  minds  and  hearts." 

This  last  clause  contained  the  knotty  point  of  the 
question,  and  the  Archbishop  of  Narbonne,  charged 
with  the  presentation  of  the  "vote  of  the  clergy  "*  to 
the  king,  represented  its  importance. 

The  Dauphin,  on  his  side,  possessed  of  keen  int^el- 
ligence  and  a  noble  heart,  neglected  nothing  m  order 
to  make  the  king  comprehend  the  terrible  danger  of 
leaving  to  chance,  at  so  menacing  a  period,  the  edu- 
cation of  youth.  It  must  be  granted,  that  the  danger 
was  from  that  time  forth  appreciated  by  all  the  world  ; 
only  while  it  was  a  subject  of  fear  for  the  friends  of 


*  Vote  of  the  clergy  of  France. 


Choiseul,  U Aranda,  and  Tanucci,  233 


the  throne,  it  raised  the  hopes  of  the  conspirators  en- 
listed in  the  cabal  against  it,  and  of  the  still  more 
numerous,  wild,  reckless  beings  whose  curiosity  led 
them,  with  bandaged  eyes,  to  the  discovery  of  abysses 
toward  which  civilization  was  hurrying. 

As  yet,  the  Revolution  had  no  name,  but  each  felt  it 
drawing  near,  and  each  felt  that  in  the  attack  upon  the 
Jesuits  had  been  swept  away  the  most  sohd  of  the  last 
barriers  raised  across  the  declivity  on  which  the  world 
Avas  slipping.  To  expel  the  Jesuits  was  to  plunge 
the  young  generation  into  a  chaos  of  aspirations,  of 
doubts,  falsehoods,  undisciplined  science,  ambitions, 
treasons,  egotisms,  impieties,  with  which  they  became 
imbued,  under  the  name  of  "new  ideas,"  to  fill 
them  with  the  obstinacy  of  caste,  the  prejudice  of 
sect,  and  the  passion  of  privilege  peculiar  to  certain 
bodies,  such  as  the  Parliaments  and  the  Universities. 

The  day  will  come  when  history,  well  written,  and 
free  from  the  declamatory  twaddle  which  overloads  it 
and  obscures  its  meaning,  will  establish  clearly  the 
truth  of  this  axiom  : 

That  the  Revolution,  at  its  birth,  was  nothing  more 
than  a  fever  of  caste,  a  conspiracy  of  sect,  and  a  revolt 
of  privilege,  in  which  the  people  were  not  at  all  inter- 
ested, because  its  great  instinct,  not  yet  empoisoned, 
saw  in  it  only  the  interest  of  castes,  of  sects,  a-nd  of 
prerogative,  excited  by  the  representations  of  sophistry. 

There  was  no  need  of  the  Revolution  in  order  to 


234 


The  Jesuits, 


further  the  measure  of  progress  where  progress  is  only 
possible  according  to  Divine  permission. 

Beyond  this  allotted  measure  all  progress  is  a  false- 
hood and  an  irony,  as  may  be  plainly  seen  by  the  peri- 
odical and  constant  recoils  of  the  Revolution,  which 
ever  exists,  and  which,  perhaps,  will  never  end.  Those 
who  live  long,  nearly  all  acquire  the  certainty  that  in- 
telligent revolutionists  do  not  believe  in  the  Revolu- 
tion. 

We  should  be  more  advanced  in  that  vague  path 
which  they  call  progress,  and  which  is  least  marked  by 
splendid  monuments,  either  in  point  of  view  of  ma- 
terial conquest  or  purely  physical  science,  if  the  revo- 
lutionists did  not  take  the  trouble  to  pause,  from 
time  to  time,  to  assassinate  Louis  XVI.,  or  to  play 
some  other  highly  insensate  tragedy  in  order  to  fill  up 
the  inevitable  reaction  attendant  upon  proclaiming 
from  the  housetops  that  they  are  the  ignorant  evil,  the 
ferocious  evil,  and  the  incurably  blind  evil,  before 
which  everything  must  give  way. 

The  most  convincing  argument  against  the  revolu- 
tionists, more  telling  even  than  the  history  of  their 
political  abortions,  which  will  long  be  the  surprise  of 
posterity,  is  this  :  What  have  they  discovered  in  phi- 
losophy, leaving  aside  the  negation  of  God  ?  Voltaire 
beUeved  in  God.  He  has  said  so  time  and  again, 
both  in  brilliant  prose  and  pitiful  verse.  It  is  melan- 
choly to  see  Voltaire  among  them,  or  even  Diderot, 


Choiseul,  ly Aranda^  and  Tamicci,  235 


who  has  showed  himself  in  certain  passages  to  be  a 
man  of  genius.  Both  of  these  were  thoroughly  French 
in  mind,  although  naturalized  Prussians  in  heart.  Vol- 
taire, especially,  was  guilty  of  the  wrong  of  despising 
and  detesting  the  French  people,  and  allowed  them  to 
see  it  with  a  cynical  effrontery,  because,  mighty  genius 
as  he  was,  and  perhaps  for  that  very  reason,  he  was 
the  exact  opposite  of  a  great  prince.  Under  the  quasi- 
royal  mantle  which  the  easily-understood  infatuation 
of  his  contemporaries  draped  upon  his  shoulders,  the 
parvenu  thrusts  itself  into  view. 

And  it  is  a  ludicrous  thing  to  say,  but  behold, 
why  the  Church  proved  so  obnoxious  to  him  :  they  had 
raised  him  a  mimic  throne,  and,  in  his  simplicity,  he 
wished  a  true  Altar  ;  and  God  eclipsed  him  by  taking 
up  too  much  space  thereon. 

Voltaire,  in  killing  God,  hoped  to  inherit  His 
throne.  Others  since  Voltaire,  and  with  less  excuse 
than  he,  have  attempted  this  at  once  sorrowful  and 
ludicrous  work,  which  is  the  imbecility  of  genius. 

But  among  all,  even  including  Voltaire,  living  by  the 
eloquence  of  their  hates,  what  have  they  found  ?  In 
the  place  of  the  mocked  God,  what  have  they  put  ? 

Steam  is  magnificent ;  the  electric  telegraph  a  per- 
petual marvel;  there  are  fairy-like  wonders  in  the  dark 
box  where  the  light  works  to  produce  photographs  of 
the  smallest  thing. 

But  all  this  is  from  God. 


236 


The  Jesuits. 


Where  is  the  essentially  human  invention  ?  I  re- 
peat it,  where  is  the  philosophical  idea  brought  by  the 
revolutionists  ?  Nowhere  !  In  this  regard,  they  are 
more  poorly  off  than  the  most  pitiful  of  the  heresies, 
whose  carcasses  lie  rotting  in  the  ditch  all  along  the 
grand  route  of  Catholicism. 

There  were  heresies  which  endured  for  centuries ; 
there  are  some  "which,  unhappily  for  the  world,  still 
exist ;  but  where  are  these  devotees  of  matter,  these 
seekers  of  a  binomial  which  will  replace  God  in  their 
empty  Church,  and  liberty  in  their  slavish  Republic ! 
nowhere  !  nowhere  ! 

Nowhere  !  Those  who  have  attained  the  age  of  fifty 
years  have  seen  their  startling  or  laughable  Utopian 
schemes  twisted  into  a  thousand,  which  are  shame- 
lessly proclaimed  in  the  obscenity  of  their  silliness, 
in  order  to  gain  the  attention  of  niankind ;  loudly 
advertising,  posting  their  placards,  waving  their  stand- 
ards, illuminating  their  booths  like  those  of  a  char- 
latan at  a  fair,  only  to  disappear,  drowned  in  the 
flood  of  some  new  foolery  which  rises. 

What  is  at  the  bottom  of  all  this  ?  The  shop.  The 
shop  of  men  who,  refusing  all  belief  in  the  disinter- 
estedness of  the  veritable  apostolate,  constitute  them- 
selves the  apostles  of  all  kinds  of  nonsense,  in  ordei 
to  gain  reputation,  influence,  or  money ;  the  miniature 
shop  of  Voltaire  ;  also,  the  shop  of  caste,  of  sect,  of 
privilege  ;  the  shop,  alas !  of  the  Court  of  France  in 


Choiseuly  D*Aranda,  and  Taniicci.  237 

tl/e  eighteenth  century,  of  Protestants,  of  Jansenists, 
and  the  shop  of  Parliaments  ! 

Must  it  be  understood,  then,  that  to  combat  this  in- 
vasion of  Bourgeois  charlatanism,  which,  hardly  born, 
was  already  so  powerful,  there  was  only  the  eftbrt  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus  ?  Such  is,  most  certainly,  not 
the  impression  we  wish  to  give. 

The  Society  of  Jesus  is  only  a  battalion  of  the  grand 
army  of  the  Church,  and  the  Church  will  be  provi- 
dentially guarded  in  its  integrity,  independent  of 
that  Order,  independent  of  all  which  is  not  essentially 
the  Church  ;  but  since  we  have  been  speaking  of  the 
army  apropos  of  the  Church,  it  is  necessary  to  take 
note  of  the  element  of  every  army — the  soldier. 

The  army  of  the  Church  has  numbered  equally  as 
good  soldiers  as  the  Society  of  Jesus  has  furnished 
them,  but  none  better ;  and  their  force  was  tenfold 
increased  by  the  marvelous  discipline  to  which  the 
unanimity  of  their  adversaries  has  constantly  rendered 
homage.  Through  this  discipline,  which  stationed 
them  in  the  center  of  the  Church,  they  were  as  the 
heart  of  the  Church,  and  the  enemies  of  the  Church 
drawn  up  and  collected  for  a  supreme  effort,  rushed 
upon  this  heart.  If  the  Church  did  not  succumb,  it 
was  because  she  is  immortal. 

Not  only  did  the  Church  survive  the  shock,  it  was 
not  even  shaken  ;  but  all  which  was  not  the  Church, 


238 


The  Jesuits, 


but  depended  for  its  existence  on  her,  although  refus- 
ing to  believe  so,  all  tottered  and  fell  ! 

The  severest  chastisement  which  could  be  inflicted, 
not  only  on  the  memory  of  M.  de  Choiseul,  whose 
lavish  partiality  hung  so  heavy  a  weight  on  the  con- 
science of  Parliament,  but  on  that  of  Parliament  itself, 
is  the  publication  in  its  integral  parts  of  the  Act  which 
expelled  the  Jesuits,  and  the  considerations  of  that 
Act.  The  comic  genius  of  Moliere  never  conceived 
anything  as  ridiculous  as  this  vocabulary  of  charges, 
an  unrivaled  monument  of  bad  faith,  ignorance,  and 
impotency. 

The  Parliament  was  an  illustrious  body,  and  when 
we  utter  in  their  default  the  word  "ignorance,"  it  is 
not  that  we  are  unaware  of  the  fact  that  it  consulted 
the  most  eminent  and  upright  jurists  in  France,  or 
probably  in  Europe,  but  that  besides  the  balance  of 
votes  being  rendered  unfair  by  the  presence  of  a  large 
number  of  young  courtiers — the  avowed  creatures  of 
Pompadour,  whose  pestilential  influence  everywhere 
penetrated — it  is  certain  that  the  bolstered  theology, 
improvised  for  the  occasion  in  the  half  pagan  sanctuary 
of  Themis,  was  the  occasion  of  great  disorder,  followed 
presently  by  the  most  unblushing  of  all  pedantries. 

These  young  "  time-servers,"  wicked  creatures  of  An- 
toinette Poisson,  disguised  as  Fathers  of  the  Council, 
would  convey  to  the  mind  only  the  idea  of  a  carnival, 
were  it  not  that  the  consequences  proved  so  funereal. 


Choisenl,  D'Ara?tda,  and  Tanucci. 


239 


The  6th  of  August,  1762,  ParHament,  judging  this 
cause  in  a  single  sitting,  and  neglecting  almost  entirely 
the  main  point  of  the  case,  rendered  a  judgment  which 
even  its  delay  impeaches  as  having  been  decided  upon 
in  advance,  and  which  declares  the  Order  known  as 
the  Society  of  Jesus  inadmissible  in  all  civilized  States," 
as  being  opposed  to  natural  right,  to  all  spiritual  and 
temporal  authority,  and  tending  to  introduce  into  the 
Church,  under  the  specious  veil  of  a  religious  Institu- 
tion, not  an  Order  whose  aspirations  are  veritably  and 
solely  toward  evangelical  perfection,  but  a  political 
body,*  whose  very  essence  consists  of  a  constant 
activity  in  bringing  about  by  every  possible  means  a 
state  of  absolute  indei)endence,  and  consequently  the 
usurpation  of  all  authority. 

So  far  is  only  vague,  and  written  in  defiance  of  all 
sense,  since  the  Order  "  opposed  to  all  spiritual 
authority"  was  at  the  time  defended  by  the  infalhble 
testimony  of  the  Holy  See,  the  Apostolic  Council,  and 
by  the  entire  clergy  of  France,  with  the  Bishops  at  their 
head. 

But  the  sequel  will  be  better  understood  by  employ- 
ing the  precise  terms  of  the  Decree  to  show  the  crimes 

*  At  first  they  made  use  of  the  word  "  secret,"  and  the 
President,  Roland,  he  who  was  later  so  unmercifully  plun- 
dered by  the  Jansenist  sharks  (the  famous  "  Boite  a  Perette  "), 
compared  them  to  the  Freemasons,  who  had  made  some 
stir  since  the  attempt  of  Damiens. 


240 


The  Jesuits. 


of  which  the  Jesuits  are  accused  :  ^'  Simony,  blas- 
phemy, sacrilege,  magic  and  sorcery,  astrology,  irre- 
ligion  of  all  kinds,  idolatry  and  superstition,  lascivious- 
ness,  ....  theft,  parricide,  homicide,  suicide,  and 
regicide." 

This  not  only  in  practice,  but  in  doctrine  with  the 
approbation  of  their  Superiors  and  Generals. 

Where  was  the  Bearnais,  who  understood  so  well 
how  to  deal  with  the  hypocrisy  of  Parliament  ?  Had 
there  been  on  the  throne  of  France,  I  do  not  say  a 
Henry  IV.,  nor  even  the  half,  the  quarter,  but  only 
the  tenth,  the  hundredth  part  of  a  king,  ....  alas  ! 
if  there  had  been  even  Louis.  XV.,  without  Choiseul 
or  Pompadour  ! 

The  Jews,  says  the  Evangelist,  had  great  difficulty 
in  procuring  false  witnesses  to  testify  against  our  Lord. 
And  it  seems  that  ParHament  found  no  more  easily 
than  they  the  sources  by  which  their  unparalleled  judg- 
ment was  gained;  for  the  same  President  Roland,  to 
whom  we  have  alluded,  when  justly  attacking  the 
Jansenists  for  having  disputed,  amid  their  gloomy  dis- 
sipation, the  succession  of  his  uncle,  Rouilli  des  Fille- 
tieres,  complained  bitterly  "  of  having  expended  more 
that  sixty  thousand  livres  of  his  own  money  in  the 
affair  of  the  Jesuits  ; "  and  he  candidly  adds  : 

"  In  truth,  the  labors  that  I  have  gone  through  in 
relation  to  the  Jesuits,  who  would  never  have  been 
'exterminated'  (precious  word)  if  I  had  not  conse- 


Choiseul^  UAranda^  and  Tanucci.  241 


crated  to  the  purpose  my  time,  my  money,  and  my 
health,  should  not  have  been  rewarded  by  a  desertion 
of  my  uncle." 

So  much  for  the  favor  of  the  Jansenists  !  A  little 
further  on,  and  this  unfortunate  President  had  reason 
to  weep  ;  the  "  Boite  a  Perette  "  did  not  show  itself 
very  gracious  in  his  regard. 

How  shameful  and  pitiable  a  comedy  !  The  Parlia- 
ment of  a  d'Agueseau,  of  Lamoignon,  and  of  a  Mole  ! 
At  least  Pombal  supplied  himself  with  his  authority, 
and  did  not  dishonor  the  justice  of  his  country. 

But  let  us  peruse  the  considerations  of  this  Choiseul 
Act  ;  it  must  be  read  in  order  to  be  believed. 

Their  doctrines  in  all  times  have  been  favorable 
to  the  schism  of  the  Greeks  ;  opposed  to  the  dogma 
of  the  Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  favoring  Arian- 
ism,  Socinianism,  Sabellianism,  and  Nestorianism ; 
endeavoring  to  shike  belief  in  the  truth  of  other 
dogmas  concerning  the  hierarchy,  the  rites  of  sacrifice 
and  sacraments  ;  reversing  the  authority  of  the  Church 
and  Apostolic  See ;  favoring  the  Lutherans,  the  Cal- 
vinists,  and  other  innovators  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury; reviving  the  heresy  of  Wyckliffe,  renewing  the 
errors  of  Tichonius,  of  Pelagius,  and  of  the  semi- 
Pelagians,  of  Cassien,  and  of  Fauste,  along  with  that 
of  the  Marseillais  ;  adding  to  heresy,  blasphemies 
offensive  to  the  Holy  Fathers,  to  the  Apostles,  to 
Abraham,  to  the  Prophets,  to  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and 
16 


242 


The  Jesuits. 


to  the  Angels ;  being  outrageous  and  blasphemous 
against  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary ;  shaking  the  founda- 
tions of  Christian  Faith  ;  assailing  the  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  attacking  the  mystery  of  the  Redemp- 
tion ;  favoring  the  impiety  of  the  Deists ;  entertaining. 
Epicurism  ;  teaching  men  to  live  as  beasts,  and  Chris- 
tians to  live  as  Pagans  ;  offending  the  ears  of  the 
chaste ;  nourishing  concupiscence  and  conducing  to 
temptation  and  toward  grievous  sins ;  eluding  the 
divine  law  by  artifice,  pretended  societies  and  other 
frauds  of  this  kind;  palliating  usury;  inducing  judges 
to  prevarication ;  apt  to  accomplish  their  ends  by 
diabolical  artifice ;  troubling  the  peace  of  families ; 
adding  the  art  of  deceiving  to  the  iniquity  of  theft ; 
shaking  the  fidelity  of  domestics ;  opening  the  way  to 
the  violation  of  all  laws,  civil,  ecclesiastical,  or  apos- 
tolic ;  injurious  to  sovereigns,  and  to  governments  ; 
making  the  life  of  mankind  and  their  rule  of  manners  so 
as  to  depend  upon  vain  reasonings  and  systems  ;  ex- 
cusing vengeance  and  homicide  ;  justifying  cruelty  and 
personal  vengeance  ;  opposed  to  the  second  Com- 
mandment of  charity,  and  stifling  even  in  fathers  and 
children  all  sentiments  of  humanity — thus  execrably 
acting  in  opposition  to  filial  love  ;  opening  the  road  to 
avarice  and  cruelty  ;  capable  of  procuring  homicide 
and  parricides  to  be  committed ;  openly  opposed  to 
the  Decalogue  ;  justifying  massacres ;  menacing  mag- 
istrates and  human  society  with  certain  riiiii ;  contrary 


Choisetil,  UAranda,  and  Tanucci..  243 

to  the  maxims  of  the  Gospel,  to  the  example  of  Jesus 
Christ,  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostles,  the  opinions  of 
the  Holy  Fathers,  and  the  decisions  of  the  Church  ;  to 
the  security-of  the  life  and  honor  of  princes,  and  their 
magistrates,  and  ministers  ;  to  the  peace  of  families, 
and  the  good  order  of  civil  society ;  seditions  opposed 
to  all  natural  right,  to  divine  right,  to  positive  right, 
and  the  right  of  mankind ;  fomenting  fanaticism  and 
its  horrible  carnage  ;  a  disturbing  element  in  the  society 
of  men ;  ever  creating  an  ever-present  peril  to  the  life 
of  kings ;  holding  doctrines  whose  venom  is  so  dangerous 
that  it  can  only  be  estimated  by  it's  sacrilegious  effects, 
which  can  not  be  viewed  without  horror."    Bah  ! 

Never,  assuredly,  have  even  our  daily  journals,  who 
seize  so  greedily  upon  every  detail  bearing  on  the 
Jesuits,  served  up  to  their  readers  such  ludicrous  ac- 
cusations as  these.  Nothing  has  been  found  to  equal 
the  absurdity  of  this  decree  save  its  infamy. 

But  still  greater  than  the  infamy  of  the  decree  itself 
was  the  rigor  with  which  it  was  executed. 

The  king  was  saddened,  and  as  deeply  touched  as 
it  was  possible  for  him  to  be. 

The  Dauphin  gazed  into  the  sinister  perspective  of 
^the  future,  and  shortly  afterward  died.  The  accusa- 
tions directed  against  M.  de  Choiseul,  by  the  con- 
science of  the  public,  on  the  subject  of  his  death, 
have  never  been  proven;  but  Horace  Walpole,  in 
October  of  1765,  writes  as  follows  : 


244 


The  Jesuits. 


*'The  Dauphin  has  infaUibly  but  a  short  time  to 
live.  The  Philosophers  are  overjoyed."  Lacretelle, 
on  the  contrary,  describes  the  intense  mourning  of 
Paris.  Philosophers  and  people  alike  both  knew  with 
what  ardor  the  Dauphin  worked  toward  the  re-es- 
tablishment of  the  Jesuits,  who  were,  in  the  full  force 
of  the  term,  popular,  besides  having  in  their  favor  the 
queen,  Stanislaus  of  Poland,  and  the  king  himself,  if 
he  counted  for  anything.  The  king  had  written  to  M. 
de  Choiseul :  "  AH' heresies  have  ever  been  detested 
by  them."  Choiseul  knew  enough  of  modern  history 
to  not  be  in  ignorance  of  that  fact,  and  certainly  it  was 
not  a  reason  to  make  him  love  them  any  the  better. 

Listen  to  a  mighty  voice,  that  of  I.amenais,  speak- 
ing from  the  distance  of  half  a  century  (in  1820)  : 
"They  knew  it,"  he  says  (the  devotion  of  the  Order 
to  religion  and  humanity)  ;  "  they  knew  it,  and  it  was 
for  them  a  reason  to  destroy  it,  as  it  is  for  us  to  pay 
it,  at  least,  the  tribute  of  regret  and  gratitude  which 
it  merits  for  the  numerous  benefits  it  has  conferred. 
We  will  long  feeLthe  void  made  in  Christianity  by  the 
suppression  of  these  men,  as  eager  for  sacrifices  as 
others  in  the  pursuit  of  enjoyment,  and  we  will  have 
to  work  a  long  time  to  fill  it. 

*'  Who  has  replaced  them  in  our  puljnts  ?  Wl  o  will 
replace  them  in  our  colleges?  Who  in  their  stead 
has  offered  to  carry  Faith  and  Civilization  and  the 


Choiseul,  D'Aranda^  and  Tamicci.  245 


love  of  the  French  name  into  the  forests  of  America, 
or  across  the  pathless  wastes  of  Asia,  watered  so  often 
with  their  blood  ?  They  are  accused  of  being  ambi- 
tious ;  no  doubt  they  were ;  what  society  of  men  is 
not? 

But  their  ambition  was  to  do  good  ;  all  the  good 
in  their  power  ;  and  who  does  not  know  that  it  is 
often  that  fault  which  the  world  will  least  pardon  ? 

"They  wished  to  rule  everywhere;  and  where  did 
they  rule  if  not  in  the  regions  of  the  New  World,  where, 
for  the  first  and  only  time,  they  seemed  to  realize  those 
chimeras  of  happiness  which  we  pardon  in  the  imag- 
ination of  poets  ?  They  were  dangerous  to  monarchs  ; 
is  it  well  for  Philosophy  to  make  them  this  reproach  ? 

"  However  it  may  be  I  have  examined  history,  I 
have  seen  these  accusations ;  I  have  searched  for  proofs, 
and  found  only  a  clear  justification  of  the  Order." 

This  extract,  taken  from  the  "Reflections  on  the 
State  of  the  Church  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,"  was 
written  a  short  time  previous  to  the  re-estabHshment 
of  the  Jesuits,  who  had  returned,  but  without  having 
received  the  sanction  of  the  Christian  government  of 
the  Bourbons.  Under  the  Restoration  the  shadow  of 
Choiseul  still  seemed  to  linger  in  ministerial  places. 

Moreover,  in  the  nick  of  time  the  doors  of  the  Ad- 
ministration had  been  found  sufficiently  ajar  to  let 
that  Bourgeois  riot,  which  bore  the  name  of  the  Revo- 
lution of  1830,  effect  an  entrance. 


246 


The  Jesuits. 


But  let  us  return  to  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury and  cast  a  glance  at  Spain.  Here  we  find  that 
the  baneful  shadow  of  Choiseul  has  stretched  across 
the  Pyrenees. 

Nothing  appeared  to  quench  the  thirst  of  hate  which 
consumed  the  heart  of  this  man  ;  and  Sismondi,  after 
expressing  astonishment  at  the  rapidity  with  which  the 
persecution  against  the  Jesuits  spread  from  country  to 
country,  explains  it  by  saying  : 

*'  Choiseul  made  this  persecution  his  own  personal 
affair,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  one  great  object  of 
expelling  them  from  every  State  ruled  by  Bourbon 
power." 

The  reason  of  this  was,  because  Choiseul  loved  the 
Bourbons  no  better  than  he  loved  the  Jesuits. 

He  mined,  he  sapped  the  throne  as  well  as  the  altar. 
But  here  he  was  defeated.  His  gnawing  teeth  could 
tear  the  gilded  wood  of  the  throne,  but  broke  against 
the  altar-stone. 

The  throne  needed  the  Jesuits,  that  is  to  say,  edu- 
cation, for  its  support ;  and  after  the  empoisoning 
of  only  one  generation  which  followed  the  expulsion 
of  the  Jesuits,  the  throne  fell. 

The  altar,  which  needed  no  human  support,  survived, 
rising  miraculously  from  the  midst  of  ruins. 

Choiseul,  principal  cause  of  the  shan)eful  excesses 
of  his  country,  the  man  who  by  his  weakness  and 
inefficiency  had  provoked  the  anti-Catholic,  that  is,  to 


Choiseuly  UAranda,  and  Tanucci.  247 

the  anti-national  rage;  Choiseul,  more  noxious  even 
than  Voltaire,  and  more  guilty,  because  he  was  at  the 
same  time  more  interested  and  more  responsible,  had 
exerted  all  his  power;  but  non  prcevehiit,'^  his  work 
hastened  the  unlooked-for  disaster  which  terrified  his 
last  hour,  but  even  then  he  saw  the  altar  and  the  lamp 
of  the  altar  suspended  on  high,  reigning  above  the  dis- 
aster, and  giving  glory  to  God,  with  the  incense  which 
rose  from  the  death  of  the  martyrs. 

N'on  prcBvehiit :  he  has  not ;  non  prcevalebunt :  they 
shall  not !  Nothing  can  prevail  against  the  Church, 
which  is  the  rock  of  Jesus  Christ. 

In  the  strange  Memoir  of  M.  de  Choiseul,  which 
shows  uneasiness,  but  no  repentance,  addressed  during 
the  following  reign  to  Louis  XVI.,  and  of  which  we 
have  already  quoted  some  lines,  he  lays  to  the  "  action 
of  Spain  only,  the  suppression  of  the  Company  in 
France." 

Beside  that  the  dates  give  the  direct  falsehood  to 
puerile  justification,  so  little  worthy  the  dignity  of  a 
statesman,  celebrated  at  least  by  the  piles  of  rubbish 
which  he  had  heaped  up  along  his  route,  and  the 
many  wounds  which  he  had  dealt  his  country,*  the  as- 

*  The  history  of  this  Minister,  such  as  it  is  related  in  the 
"Dictionaries"  for  the  use  of  youth,  is  the  masterpiece  of 
its  kind ^  he  is  there  represented  as  a  well-educated  man 
(which  is  false),  gifted  with  talents  (which  is  true),  a  friend 
of  letters  (he  corresponded  much  with  the  stranger),  an  able 


248 


The  Jesuits. 


sertion  of  M.  de  Choiseul  is  sufficiently  refuted  by  the 
facts  themselves.  Not  only  did  not  the  "  action  of 
Spain  "  influence  the  conduct  of  the  French  Minister, 
but  it  is  clearly  demonstrated  that  the  French  Minister 
was,  if  not  the  author,  at  least  the  instigator  of  the 
"  action  of  Spain." 

Charles  III.  in  truth  resembled  neither  Joseph 
Emmanuel  nor  Louis  XV. ;  he  was  a  Christian  king, 
and  it  may  be  remembered  that  far  from  being  a  sys- 
tematic enemy  of  the  Jesuits,  he  had  ordered  the  first 
pamphlets  of  Pombal  against  the  Society  to  be  burnt. 

To  excite  this  just  prince  against  the  Order,  even  to 
the  excess  of  the  most  furious  persecution,  a  skillfully 
conducted  intrigue  was  needed ;  and  to  conduct  this 
intrigue,  it  needed  the  character  whom  the  amateurs 
of  our  popular  theater  call  The  Traitor,"  and  who  is 
as  great  a  personification  of  evil,  gifted  with  tale7it^  as 
the  Mephistopheles  of  Goethe. 

The  traitor  was  at  hand. 


administrator  (after  the  fashion  of  the  famous  steward  wh:, 
sold  the  chateau),  and  the  youth  are  taught  to  believe  that 
this  noble  Minister  hunted  the  Jesuits,  for  having  made  the 
colonial  fortune  of  England,  served  Austria  without  mili- 
tating against  Prussia,  enriched  Pompadour,  betra)^ed 
Canada,  ceded  Louisiana,  as  easily  as  they  do  all  things, 
with  their  hands  in  the  pockets  of  their  soutanes,  all  lies 
in  the  art  of  lying  moderately,  but  impudently,  with  the  ap- 
probation and  privilege  of  the  King  of  Prussia. 


Choiseul,  VAranda,  and  Tayiucci.  249 


The  historical  facts  here  assume  such  a  coloring, 
that  they  can  only  be  explained  with  the  guarantee  of 
impartiality  by  Protestant  pens. 

The  least  phrase  uttered  by  a  writer  friendly  toward 
religion  would  be  suspected.  Let  the  recital  be  writ- 
ten from  one  end  to  the  other,  therefore,  with  Protest- 
ant ink. 

In  the  year  1766,  three  years  after  the  action  of 
France  in  regard  to  these  ci-devanV^  Jesuits,  as  Par- 
liament called  them,  already  filled  with  the  spirit  of 
"'93,"  even  to  the  point  of  using  its  very  language, 
a  riot  took  place  in  Madrid  known  as  that  of  "  The 
Sombreros,"  of  which  the  apparently  frivolous  motive 
here  matters  but  little,  but  which  had  its  concealed  ori- 
gin in  Paris  and  Lisbon.  The  royal  authority  was  for 
a  time  overthrown,  and  Charles  was  obliged  to  retreat 
to  Aranjuez,  protected  with  great  difficulty  by  his 
Wallonian  Guards, 

The  disturbance,  which  neither  the  regiments  of 
Flanders  nor  the  guards  sufficed  to  quell,  was  appeased 
by  the  Jesuits,  who  had  become  even  more  popular  in 
Spain  than  they  had  been  in  France,  as  the  public 
demonstrations  testified. 

Unfortunately,  the  crowd  insisted  upon  attending 
them  even  to  the  doors  of  their  several  houses,  crying  : 
" Vivent  les  Feres'^ 

Charles  III.  possessed  some  fine  qualities,  but  he 
was  arrogant,  jealous,  and  vengeful  as  a  Castilian, 


250 


The  Jesuits. 


He  had  been  obliged  to  flee  ;  the  Fathers  had  subdued 
the  people  who  had  risen  against  him. 

At  the  height  of  his  indignation  he  received  advices 
from  Paris  stating  "  that  it  was  not  difficult  for  the 
Jesuits  to  quell  the  riot  which  they  had  themselves 
excited r 

M,  de  Choiseul  had  long  before  insinuated  himself 
into  the  good  graces  of  Charles  by  conceding  to  his 
Ambassadors  precedence  over  the  Ambassadors  of 
France.  The  dignity  of  his  country  counted  as  nothing 
with  M.  de  Choiseul,  who  was  as  prodigal  of  her  honor 
as  of  her  finances. 

Soon  after  the  affair  of  "  The  Sombreros,"  a  Ministry 
friendly  to  the  views  of  Choiseul  (and  looked  upon 
favorably  by  the  "  Encyclopedie ")  was  instituted  at 
Aranjuez. 

The  chief  of  this  cabinet  was  a  most  distinguished 
diplomat,  Don  Abarca  de  Bolea,  Count  d'Aranda, 
whom  the  Lutheran  Schoell  represents  as  transported  by 
the  praises  which  unbelieving  Paris  lavished  upon  him. 

His  colleague,  the  Duke  of  Alba,  was  a  veritable 
veteran  ot  philosophy,  and  but  little  scrupulous  in  the 
choice  of  means  when  there  was  a  question  of  striking 
at  the  Church  ;  for  a  second  Protestant,  Christopher  de 
Murr,*  clearly  convicts  him  of  forging  the  letters  which 
he  attributed  to  the  Jesuits. 


*IXth  Vol.  of  the  Journal,  p.  222. 


Choiseul,  U Aranda,  and  Tanucci.      25 1 

Beginning  with  Pombal,  all  the  persecutors  of  the 
Society  were  of  an  equal  moral  standard,  and  this  it 
is  our  concern  to  prove  from  non-Catholic  sources. 

According  to  Christopher  de  Murr,  the  repentant 
Duke  of  Alba  later  made  Charles  III.  a  written 
avowal  of  the  wrong  committed  by  him  in  the  affair  of 
the  Jesuits. 

Furthermore,  he  declared  before  the  Archbishop  of 
Salmanaca,  "  That  he  had  fomented  the  riot  of  '  The 
Sombreros '  for  the  express  purpose  of  attributing  it  to 
the  Jesuits^  Thus,  we  have  before  us  the  workings  of  a 
world  absolutely  devoid  of  truth,  although  the  Spanish 
philosophers,  far  from  being  plebeian,  like  those  of  our 
nation,  possessed  each  quarterings  of  nobility  enough, 
and  to  spare. 

But  there  were  other  means  needed  beside  the  in- 
citing of  mobs  at  Madrid,  in  order  to  destroy  the 
sympathy  which  had  existed  between  the  zealous 
Catholic,  Charles  III.,  and  the  Society  of  Jesus. 

A  third  Protestant,  the  English  historian,  Coxe,  lets 
us  into  the  secret  of  a  romantic  manoeuver  which 
brings  M.  de  Choiseul  on  the  scene. 

From  the  year  1764,  the  French  Minister*  had  en- 
tertained the  idea  of  effecting  the  expulsion  of  the 
Society  from  the  other  countries,  especially  Spain. 


*  "  Spain  under  the  kings  of  the  House  of  Bourbon,"  Vol, 

v.,  p.  4. 


252  The  Jesuits. 

• 

Choiseul  attributed  to  them  every  fault  which  he 
thought  Ukely  to  bring  about  the  disgrace  of  their 
Order.  He  had  not  the  least  scruple  in  circulating 
forged  letters  under  the  name  of  their  General  and  the 
Superiors,  and  setting  in  circulation  odious  calumnies 
against  certain  individuals  of  the  Society. 

In  truth,  these  calumnies  were  rather  directed 
against  the  king  and  against  Elizabeth  Farnese,  his 
mother,  wife  of  Philip  Fifth. 

This  brings  us  back  to  the  epistle  forged  under  the 
name  of  Father  Ricci,  General  of  the  Society,  by  the 
Duke  of  Alba.  It  is  evident  that  this  intrigue  pos- 
sessed powerful  fomenters,  and  Coxe,  in  dividing  the 
responsibilities,  attributes  to  M.  de  Choiseul  the  accu- 
sation of  illegitimacy,  brought  against  Charles  III.  in 
the  alleged  correspondence  of  Father  Ricci.  . 

I  do  not  think  that  the  falsity  of  these  letters  has 
been  denied  by  a  single  historian,  whether  friendly  or 
otherwise  to  the  Society.  The  only  difference  is,  that 
one  Protestant  attributes  the  work  to  the  Duke  of 
Alba,  another  to  the  French  Minister.  But  this  point 
is  of  little  importance. 

Coxe  speaks  of  another  forged  letter  of  the  Father- 
General.  "  They  forged  a  letter  supposed  to  be  writ- 
ten from  Rome  to  the  Spanish  Provincial.""^  This  letter 
ordered  him  to  excite  an  insurrection ;  it  had  been 


Ibid.,  p.  9. 


Choiseuly  UAranda,  and  Taniicci.  253 

sent  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  intercepted,  and  en- 
larged upon  the  subject  of  the  immense  riches  and 
property  of  the  Order.  It  was  a  stratagem  by  which 
to  obtain  its  suppression.  But  the  principal  cause  of 
their  expulsion  was  the  successful  means  employed  to 
make  the  king  believe  that  the  insurrection  at  Madrid 
had  been  incited  by  them,  and  that  they  had  fomented 
other  machinations  against  himself  and  the  royal 
family. 

Charles,  but  lately  their  zealous  protector,  became 
their  most  implacable  enemy.  He  resolved  "  to  take 
pattern  by  the  French  Government,  and  expcrl  so 
dangerous  a  Society  from  his  dominions." 

Thus^  in  the  shame  of  having  been  obliged  to  flee, 
the  shame  of  having  been  succored  in  his  extremity, 
joined  to  that  of  having  had  his  birth  charged  with  ille- 
gitimacy, the  haughty  son  of  Philip  Fifth  was  baited  like 
a  bull  on  all  sides.  The  "picadores"  of  Paris  and 
Madrid  who  tormented  him  were  skillful  in  their  work. 
The  forged  letters  intended  to  excite  his  fears  could 
have  been  dispensed  with ;  the  wounds  dealt  to  his 
vanity  would  have  sufficed. 

A  fourth  Protestant,  Ranke,*  adds,  however : 
"  They  persuaded  Charles  III.  that  the  Jesuits  wished 
to  put  his  brother  Don  Luiz  in  his  place,"  as  they  had 
endeavored  to  put  Dom  Pedro  in  the  place  of  Joseph 


*  "  History  of  the  Papacy/'  IV.,  494. 


254 


The  Jesuits. 


of  Portugal ;  when  a  falsehood  works  well  why 
change  it  ? 

A  fifth  Protestant,  Sismondi,*  goes  on  :  "The  plots 
and  counter-plots,  slanderous  accusations,  forged  let- 
ters, intended  to  be  intercepted,  and  which  were,  in 
short,  determined  the  resolution  of  the  king." 

Finally,  a  sixth  writer,  the  Englishman,  Adam,  al- 
though manifestly  afraid  of  wounding  the  prejudices  of 
the  English,  believes  himself  justified  in  questioning 
the  truth  of  the  guilt  and  bad  intentions  attributed  to 
the  Jesuits,  and  declares  it  "  more  natural  to  believe 
that  a  faction,  hostile  not  only  to  their  Institute,  but  to 
Christian  religion  in  general,  wrought  a  ruin  to  which 
the  Governments  lent  themselves  the  more  readily, 
as  they  thereby  better  served  their  own  interests." 

We  will  pause  at  this  half  dozen  of  Protestant  proofs. 
But  there  are  others. 

Pombal,  with  the  customary  audacity  of  his  nature, 
had  usurped  the  office  of  justice,  and  created  himself 
magistrate  ;  Choiseul,  a  better  comedian,  concealed 
himself  in  the  side-scenes,  and  regulated  the  "  mise  en 
scene''  of  his  Parliaments,  on  the  judicial  stages  of  Paris 
and  the  provinces. 

The  Count  d'Aranda  employed  no  ceremony  ;  some 
lines  signed,  "  I,  the  King,"  and  that  matter  was  ar- 
ranged. 


*  "History  of  the  French,"  XXIX.,  370. 


Choiseiily  UAranda^  and  Tanucci.  255 


With  this  authority,  wrung  from  the  error  of  a  prince 
crazed  with  the  fever  of  vengeance,  the  Spanish  Minis- 
ter went  to  work,  and  surpassed  in  small  and  great 
cruelties  Choiseul  himself.  Here,  then,  was  manifest 
emulation.  The  hidalgo  desired  to  rival  the  gentle- 
man, and  show  the  authors  of  the  "  Encyclopedie," 
that  the  country  of  Ignatius  of  Loyola  himself,  after 
an  infusion  of  "liberal  ideas,"  could  equal  in  its  ex- 
cess the  country  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  doctored  by 
"  philanthropy  ! " 

And  the  Count  d'Aranda  had  not  presumed  upon  his 
merits.  In  this  campaign  of  persecution  against  un- 
armed Religious,  who,  far  from  resisting,  prayed  ardent- 
ly for  their  executioners,  he  displayed  the  valor  of  the 
Cid. 

Saving  the  wheel,  the  rack,  and  the  funeral  piles 
which  distinguish  more  the  genius  of  Pombal,  Spain 
pushed  philosophy  to  the  most  revolting  and  arbi- 
trary limits,  and  threw  in  a  single  day  six  thousand 
priests  into  the.  holds  of  ships,  of  which  the  greater 
part  were  unseaworthy,  leaking  in  every  part.  They 
were  obliged  to  disembark,  the  vessels  having  threat- 
ened to  sink,  even  before  they  had  put  on  sail. 

The  same  as  in  Portugal  and  in  France,  magnificent 
promises  were  made  to  any  of  the  Society  who  would 
consent  to  abjure  their  vows.  Is  it  necessary  to  add, 
that  these  promises  were  vain  ? 

It  would,  indeed,  be  wonderful  if  in  the  peninsula 


256  The  Jesuits, 


and  throughout  the  colonies,  containing  more  than  six 
thousand  Religious,  there  were  not  some  desertions, 
but  the  number  of  these  is  so  insignificant  as  to  as- 
tonish the  Protestant  writers  we  have  cited. 

We  will  not  speak  either  of  the  patience  of  the 
victims,  nor  the  gratuitous  cruelty  of  their  perse- 
cutors. 

To  what  purpose  ?  The  world  is  well  acquainted 
with  both ;  but  we  would  say  a  word  concerning  the 
indemnity  allowed  to  the  Spanish  Jesuits  by  Spain, 
who  confiscated  this  immense  wealth  of  the  poor. 
Their  action  was  little  less  ridiculous  than  that  of  the 
Parliaments  of  Choiseul  in  regard  to  the  French  Jesuits. 
Each  Spanish  Father  received  one  hundred  piastres  a 
year,  instead  of  the  twenty,  eighteen,  or  twelve  sous, 
given  each  day  to  the  Fathers  of  France,  where  the 
Exchequer  received  the  benefit  of  more  than  sixty 
millions.    Worse  than  all,  it  robbed  only  the  poor  ! 

The  Pope,  Clement  XIII.,  who  loved  Charles  III. 
with  a  tender  affection,  defended  the  Jesuits  in  Spain, 
as  he  had  done  in  France  and  Portugal,  but  with 
equal  ill  success. 

The  will  of  God  went  on,  pursuing  its  way,  of  which 
none  may  know  the  merciful  turns. 

Ferdinand  IV.,  the  Bourbon  of  Naples,  naturally 
possessed  a  philosopher  for  a  Minister.  Bernard, 
Marquis  de  Tanucci,  had  been  the  factotum,  while  the 
latter  was  king  of  Naples. 


Choiseul,  U Aranda^  and  Tanucci.  257 


When  Charles  succeeded  to  the  Spanish  crown, 
and  ceded  Naples  to  his  son  Ferdinand,  Tanucci  re- 
mained the  factotum  of  P'erdinand.  The  "  Diction- 
aries "  cite  hitn  as  being  one  of  the  most  determined 
enemies  of  the  Church,  and  consequently  worthy  of 
the  utmost  consideration,  Tanucci  having  dictated  a 
mere  "  I,  the  king,"  to  Ferdinand,  who  was  but  a  boy, 
became  instantly  a  la  mode"  in  the  choice  places  at 
Paris,  and  compares  even  with  Ponibal,  for  the  thor- 
ough brutality  which  he  exhibited  toward  the  Fathers, 
whom  he  expelled  at  the  point  of  the  sword. 

There  was  still  another  Bourbon  besides  him  of 
Naples — the  Duke  of  Parma,  who  was  happy  enough 
to  possess,  like  all  the  rest,  a  Minister-Marquis-Philos- 
opher in  du  Tillot,  Lord  of  Felino. 

This  statesman  was  particularly  obscure,  having  no 
other  claim  to  glory  than  that  of  having  shown  the 
Jesuits  of  Parma  the  door.  That  was  sufficient.  The 
"  Dictionaries "  inscribe  his  name  in  grateful  re- 
membrance of  the  grain  of  sand  which  he  brought 
to  the  revolutionary  heap.  He  was  a  miniature 
Choiseul. 

As  the  authors  of  their  common  misfortune,  the  de- 
scendants of  this  most  illustrious  royal  race  in  the 
world,  while  reviewing  the  past  in  order  to  better  un- 
derstand the  future,  should  execrate  the  names  of 
those  traitors,  great  and  insignificant,  who  have  in- 
jured the  people  still  more  than  the  kings. 
17 


258 


TJie  Jesuits. 


All  was  over  ;  the  Jesuits  had  no  other  asyhim  than 
Rome. 

And  now  all  the  Ministers  of  the  deluded  Bourbons, 
who  were  either  blinded  or  lulled  to  slumber — Choiseul, 
Aranda,  Tanucci,  Felino,  in  complicity  with  Pombal — 
pointed  the  knife  at  the  breast  of  the  Pope.  The  ex- 
pression is  not  too  strong,  and  do  you  believe  that  the 
martyrdom  of  Louis  XVI.  had  nothing  to  expiate  ? 

The  Pope  resisted,  heroic  and  saintly  old  man,  but 
he  died  because  the  measure  of  bitterness  which  had 
filled  his  long  days  was  complete. 

He  died,  and  his  last  look,  full  of  prophetic  sadness, 
was  turned  on  these  degenerate  sons  of  St.  Louis,  tot- 
tering on  their  Catholic  thrones. 

And  Laurent  Ganganelli,  elected  Sovereign  Pontiff, 
destroyed  the  Bull  of  Paul  III. 

The  Society  of  Jesus  fell  without  a  murmur,  dying, 
as  it  had  lived,  in  perfect  obedience. 

This  page  is  perhaps  the  grandest  and  most  touch- 
ing in  the  history  of  the  Order. 

I  might  say  here,  that  I  reserve  further  mention  of 
it  for  my  other  and  more  complete  work,  but  this 
would  be  a  falsehood  ;  I  shall  never  re-write  this  page. 
Indeed,  my  respect  for  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  is  un- 
bounded  


VII. 


A  LAST  WORD. 

At  the  close  of  his  excellent  and  truthful  work, 
Cretineau-Joly  declares,  as  a  proof  of  his  impartiality, 
that  he  is  neither  a  friend,  an  admirer,  nor  an  adver- 
sary of  the  Jesuits. 

They  are  to  him,  he  affirms,  merely  what  Vitellius, 
Otho,  and  Galba  were  to  Tacitus. 

At  the  end  of  my  hasty  and  incomplete  little  work, 
I  declare  on  the  contrary,  that  I  admire  and  love  the 
Jesuits.  It  is  not  necessary  to  be  indifferent  in  order 
to  be  impartial,  for  beyond  this  neutral  virtue  of  im- 
partiality, there  is  the  Truth,  which  rules  all. 

I  speak  the  truth  ;  the  truth  which  obliges  us  by  the 
sovereign  law  of  justice  to  expose  the  persecutor,  and 
to  avenge  the  persecuted  good.  A  Chrislian  has  no 
need  to  state  that  he  has  no  human  interest  which 
could  induce  him  to  deceive  ;  his  interest  is  the  law  of 
God,  which  says  to  him,  "  Thou  shalt  not  speak 
falsely,"  and  all  the  human  interests  united  would  not 
excuse  the  transgression  of  this  law. 

(259) 


26o 


The  Jesuits. 


To  show  one's  colors  is  praiseworthy.  Sincerity  is 
the  first  of  human  virtues. 

I  add,  that  to  show  one's  colors,  to  loyally  wear 
one's  chosen  cockade,  is  the  first  condition  of  imparti- 
ality. Therefore,  in  declaring,  "  I  love  the  Jesuits,  and 
condemn  their  enemies,"  I  at  once  declare  my  sincere 
convictions,  and  tear  aside  any  veil  that  might  obscure 
the  sense  of  my  judgments. 

This  pleases  me,  because  it  obliges  me  all  the  more 
fully  to  show  good  and  solid  motives  for  my  verdic.t. 

My  principal  wish  in  writing  this  book,  after  having 
rapidly  sketched  the  mighty  work  of  the  Jesuits,  was 
to  outline  also  the  dark  and  malignant  workings  of 
their  enemies.  I  wished  to  show  how,  in  every  particu- 
lar, the  men  who  have  made  the  word  "Jesuit"  an 
insult,  are  themselves  a  portrait  of  the  disloyal  monster 
whom  they  call  a  Jesuit. 

This  is  the  true  state  of  affairs. 

I  charge  the  Protestant  writers  with  showing  Tar- 
tufe  Philosophy,  or  Jansenism,  as  alone  guilty  of  the 
profligate  actions,  the  plots  of  all  the  infamies  in 
force,  with  which  this  king  of  hypocrites  reproaches 
the  posterity  of  Loyola. 

Pombal  is  the  Tartufe -Tiger,*  whom  Moli^re  has 
not  made,  but  M,  de  Choiseul,  uniting  all  the  Jesuits 
in  the  "case  of  conscience"  of  Madame  de  Pompa- 


*  Moliere's  corned}-  of  "  Tartufe." 


A  Last  Word. 


dour,  has  the  hands  of  the  noble  juggler,  with  fingers 
soft  and  white  enough  to  allow  him  to  feel,  without 
making  her  blush,  the  stuff  of  the  robe  of  Elmira  ;  *  he 
is  a  comedian,  this  Minister  who  touches  on  the  melo- 
drama, only  in  the  days  when  he  beheads  Lally  Tollen- 
dal.  The  remainder  of  the  time,  he  confines  himself 
to  merely  cutting  the  tail  of  the  dog  of  Alcibiades, 
for  the  amusement  of  the  Athenians  while  he  ruins 
and  dishonors  Athens,  as  the  punishment  of  those  who 
had  glorified  and  enriched  him. 

Look  well  at  the  "Tartufe"  of  the  Lexicon.  Be- 
hold the  Tartufe  of  the  "  Dictionnaires,"  the  normal 
enemy  of  the  Jesuits.  Such  is  he  who,  looking  into 
the  depths  of  his  own  conscience  as  into  a  mirror,  and 
seeing  in  the  world  none  more  accomplished  than  him- 
self in  the  tactics  of  hypocrisy,  ordered  a  faithful  like- 
ness of  himself,  and  wrote  beneath  it  "Jesuit,"  in 
order  that  the  hate  of  the  world  might  fall  upon  this 
expiatory  manikin. 

It  was  not  for  Socinianism  that  the  Jesuits  were 
hunted,  nor  for  Arianism,  nor  for  Sabellianism,  nor 
on  account  of  Tichonius,  whose  marvelously  invented 
name  procured  the  Act  of  Parliament  an  immense 
amount  of  laughter,  nor  even  on  account  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  nor  Abraham  ;  the  Jesuits  were  hunted 
because  it  was  necessary  to  the  little  political  farce  of 


*  Moliere's  comedy  of  "Tartufe." 


262 


The  Jesuits. 


Choiseiil  and  Madame  de  Pompadour — Monsieur  and 
Madame  Tartufe — by  which  they  satisfied  their  deadly 
hatred  and  juggled  some  millions. 

Are  these  things  less  true  because  they  are  uttered 
by  a  man  who  does  not  conceal  his  loathing  for  the 
actors  in  this  infamous  comedy,  calumniators  of  their 
victims  ;  and  his  admiration  for  the  saints  who  beg  of 
God  the  salvation  of  their  executioners  ? 

The  blow  which  crushed  the  Jesuits  rebounded  on  / 
both  sides  ;  their  suppression  left  an  immense  void, 
but  principally  in  religious  instruction  and  education. 

The  echo  of  this  disaster  penetrated  to  the  confines 
of  the  universe,  and  was  prolonged  throughout  the 
age. 

We  hear  the  cry  of  sorrowfiil  astonishment,  not  only 
among  Christian  writers,  but  in  philosophical  works 
and  those  of  the  University.  Chateaubriand  has  no 
different  sentiment  from  Fontaine  ;  Joubert  writes  as 
a  Maistre,  Lamenais  as  Voltaire,  and  Frederick  of 
Prussia  as  Lally  Tollendal. 

The  learning  of  Europe  has  sustained  an  irreparable 
loss. 

Listen  to  the  avowal,  the  lamentation  of  intelli- 
gence! Ah!  how  foreign  to  the  Jesuits  are  the  ac- 
cusations of  darkness  and  ignorance. 

"  There  are  among  them,"  said  Voltaire,  "  writers 
of  rare  merit,  men  of  great  learning,  of  vast  eloquence, 
of  genius."    "The  Jesuits,"  adds  d'Alembert,  "are 


A  Last  Word. 


263 


successful  in  all  paths  of  learning,  in  eloquence,  his- 
tory, antiquities,  geometry,  light  and  profound  litera- 
ture ;  there  is  hardly  any  class  of  writing  in  which  they 
do  not  number  men  of  great  merit." 

Frederick  II.,  writing  to  Voltaire,  "that  this  Order 
had  brought  and  supplied  to  France  men  of  gigantic 
genius,"  declares  to  him  "  that  he  would  preserve  the 
precious  seed  to  furnish  those  who  would  cultivate 
so  rare  a  plant." 

Lalande  does  not  pause  with  an  eulogy  of  the  Jesuits; 
he  goes  on  to  reproach  their  enemies  "  with  having 
destroyed  a  Society  which  presented  the  most  astonish- 
ing union  of  science  and  virtue  that  was  ever  known." 

"  Carvalho  (Pombal)  et  Choiseul,"  he  adds,  "have 
destroyed  the  greatest  work  of  mankind,  one  with  which 
no  earthly  establishment  will  ever  compare  ;  object  of 
my  constant  admiration,  of  my  gratitude,  and  my  re^ 
gret."  He  goes  on  to  avow  "  that  he  had  formerly 
experienced  a  strong  desire  to  enter  this  Order,  and 
regretted  not  having  followed  a  vocation  that  he  owed 
to  innocence  and  a  taste  for  study." 

And  Lally  Tollendal :  "  The  destruction  of  the 
Jesuits  was  the  most  arbitrary  and  tyrannical  act  that 
could  be  done  ;  it  resulted  in  the  disorder  that  always 
follows  injustice,  and  made  an  incurable  void  in  public 
education." 

A  vast  collection  of  these  severe  judgments  pro- 
nounced against  the  murderers  of  the  Society,  might  be 


264 


The  Jesuits. 


brought  forward — ^judgments  gathere  1  from  the  most 
diverse  sources,  and  signed  by  names  most  incongruous 
In  their  celebrity ;  and,  likewise,  a  volume  of  praises 
allowed  to  the  works  of  the  Institute. 

In  their  favorable  testimony  are  united  Jean  Jacques 
Rousseau,  Lamartine,  Diderot,  Talleyrand,  Silvio 
Pellico,  Jean  de  Miiller ;  Macaulay,  who  has  written 
some  fine  pages  on  this  subject ;  Chaptal,  Fontanes, 
and  Dumouriez.  But  let  us  pause  ;  the  task  of  collect- 
ing these  passages  is  not  familiar,  and  laborious  ;  and  I 
fear  the  unskillful  use  which  I  make  of  these  quota- 
tions may  weary  the  reader.  I  will  transcribe  only 
some  lines  of  Kern,  the  Professor  of  Gottingen,  thus 
closing  the  array  of  Protestant  judgments  in  favor  of 
the  Order. 

"The  grandest  minds  and  noblest  hearts  have  ever 
been  in  favor  of  the  Jesuits." 

Thus,  Frederick  the  Great,  when  asked  to  expel 
them  from  his  dominions,  replied  :  "  I  know  no  better 
teachers  for  my  Catholic  subjects." 

Catherine,  Francis  Bacon,  Hugh  Grotius,  Pierre 
Bayle,  Leibnitz,  Lessing,  Herder,  Ranke,  and  Becke- 
dorf^  have  all  pronounced  in  favor  of  the  Jesuits ;  whilst 
the  vilest  minds  and  souls  are  ever  violently  opposed 
to  them. 

Kern  is  in  Germany  one  of  the  special  luminaries. 
But  the  loss  which  intelligence  sustained  was  com- 
paratively nothing  by  the  side  of  the  wrong  done  to 


A  Last  Word. 


265 


morality,  and  which  did  much  to  hasten  the  overthrow 
of  royalty. 

Ignatius  of  Loyola  had  created  the  Order  in  the 
sixteenth  century  for  the  special  end,  as  he  expressly 
declared,  of  opposing  an  imminent  Revolution,  and 
hardly  was  the  Order  born  when  the  Revolution  had 
indeed  recoiled. 

This  is  not  my  assertion  ;  it  is  the  testimony  of  the 
Revolution,  or,  rather,  of  the  Revolutions,  as  well  that 
which  miscarried  in  the  time  of  lAither,  as  that  which 
rendered  infamous  the  time  of  Marat. 

No  partisan  of  the  Jesuits  can  ever  invest  them 
with  an  importance  equal  to  that  which  the  hatred  of 
their  adversaries  lends  to  them,  not  only  in  the  past, 
but  in  our  own  day. 

What !  in  our  own  day  !  Are  they,  then,  not  dead, 
since  they  were  so  utterly  exterminated  with  the  axe, 
with  the  wheel,  with  exile,  famine,  the  union  of  all 
those  tortures  previously  known  or  invented  for  them  ? 
Are  they,  then,  like  the  trees  of  tropical  regions, 
which,  when  cut,  spread  into  forests  ?  Have  they  the 
gift  of  immortality  ? 

Their  death  startled  the  world,  and  created  an 
abyss.  Beside  their  funeral  pyres,  arose  a  chorus  of 
laments  and  acclamations  which  shook  the  two  hemi- 
spheres ;  and  yet,  behold !  in  opening  no  matter 
what  daily  paper,  heir  of  the  "  philosophic  gazettes,"  I 
Bee  that  nothing  has  changed  ;  that  they  are  still  at 


266 


The  Jesuits. 


their  old  work,  holding  families  slaves  to  their 
detestable  power,  oppressing  the  clergy,  infecting 
Rome,  tormenting  Prussia,  magnetizing  Turkey,  and 
finding  time  to  cement,  by  the  aid  of  truly  infernal 
stratagems,  hyperdramatic  marriages  between  mys- 
terious demoiselles  dowered  with  mysterious  millions, 
and  all  the  ancient  Zouaves  of  the  Pope, 

They  have  a  few  more  colleges  than  formerly,  and 
in  their  colleges  a  few  more  pupils.  And,  as  Henry 
IV".  expressed  it,  these  pupils  are  their  own  ;  yon 
could  exile  them  to  America  :  their  pupils  would  fol- 
low them  there. 

It  must  be  the  influence  of  some  spell  worked  by 
hellish  art,  for  it  may  be  truly  said  that  the  more  these 
worthy  journals  exert  themselves,  proscribing,  raving, 
and  howling,  the  more  obstinately  do  the  fathers  of 
families  persist  in  their  choice. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  explain  this.  I  only  state  it, 
and  I  further  affirm  that  were  these  gentlemen  of  the 
penny  journals,  or  the  "  reunion  privee,"  to  found 
some  fine  day  their  colleges  (and  why  not?)  I,  for 
one,  to  avert  the  influence  of  their  education,  would 
willingly  send  my  children  to  the  Jesuits  of  Timbuc- 
too  ! 

As  far  as  that  goes,  there  are  in  France  a  very  large 
number  of  bad  fathers.    There  is  no  disputing  tastes. 

But,  after  all,  what  has  been  the  definitive  result  of 
aU  these   unwholesome  enormities   committed — the 


A  Last  Word. 


267 


Choiseul-Pompadoiir  coalition,  the  league  of  pious 
Janseuists  and  Athenian  Philosophers,  the  waste  of 
money  by  poor  President  Roland  and  his  associates, 
the  ludicrous  and  cruel  decree  of  Parliament,  the  tooth- 
pick of  M.  de  Chatelain  and  the  foul  atrocities  of 
Pombal,  the  great  "I,  the  King"  of  Aranda,  the 
humbler  "I,  the  King"  of  Tanucci,  the  microscopic 
"  I,  the  Duke  "  of  Felino,  and  all  the  other  foul  in- 
trigues and  base  barbarities  ? 
Nothmg  ! 

Is  it  not  true  that  the  Jesuits  have  never  taken  the 
trouble  to  defend  themselves  ?  They  die,  and  what 
happens  ?    The  greater  glory  of  God  is  seen. 

Their  defense  is  not  their  duty;  it  should  be  the 
duty  of  all  those  who  do  not  wish  to  see  again  the 
disaste  s  which  their  fall  ever  announces  and  precedes. 
They  are  made  to  fall  beneath  the  weight  of  the  Cross. 
It  is  their  happiness  and  their  honor.  They  can  pray 
here  as  well  as  there  ;  when  their  riches,  amassed  for 
the  patriotic  work  of  education  and  charity,  are 
snatched  from  them,  the  wealth  which  is  not  theirs, 
but  only  amassed  for  the  patriotic  work  of  civilization, 
of  education,  of  evangelization,  wealth  which  they 
need  not  for  themselves,  it  being  incompatible  with 
their  vow  of  poverty ;  they  work  in  poverty,  and  are 
more  than  ever  blessed. 

Only  their  work  profits  us  less  ;  and  whose  the 
fault  ? 


268 


The  Jesuits. 


For  them  the  profit  is  ever  the  same  ;  God  never 
changes  the  price  of  their  day's  labor. 

A  day  will  come  when  those  who  call  themselves 
"  conservatives,"  to  whatever  shade  of  politics  they 
belong,  to  those  who  scrutinize  so  earnestly  the  edu- 
cation of  their  sons  by  the  Jesuits,  will  understand 
that  the  good  of  the  Jesuits  is  their  good  and  the  good 
of  their  children  ;  that  the  existence  and  liberty  of  the 
Jesuits  are  the  education  and  the  future  of  their  chil- 
dren ;  that  is  to  say,  in  a  great  measure  the  future  and 
morality  of  France. 

When  they  understand  this  well — these  conserva- 
tives— perhaps  they  will  defend  those  who  may  not 
defend  themselves. 

On  the  7th  of  August,  1814,  Pius  VII.  re-estabHshed 
the  Society  of  Jesus  throughout  the  world. 

The  Order  obeyed  this  mandate,  which  said  to  them, 
as  of  old  Jesus  said  to  Lazarus,  "  Arise,  and  walk." 

But  did  they,  too,  arise  from  a  tomb  ?  Not  entirely. 

The  Order  was  dead  through  absolute  obedience, 
but  that  its  members  were  living  we  find  striking 
proof  in  history.  In  1775,  one  year  after  the  death 
of  the  unfortunate  king  who  had  had  M.  de  Choiseul 
for  a  Minister,  in  full  view  of  Paris,  of  the  University, 
of  Parliament,  and  of  Philosophy,  Pere  Beauregard,  a 
Jesuit,  mounted  the  pulpit  of  "  Notre  Dame,"  and  you 
shall  see  tbat  his  voice  was  indeed  that  of  a  living 


A  Last  Word, 


269 


man !  He  spoke,  or  rather  prophesied,  as  follows : 
**  It  is  to  royalty,  to  religion,  that  the  Philosophers  are 
opposed.  The  axe  and  the  hammer  are  in  their  hands. 
Vour  temples,  O  Lord,  will  be  plundered  and  de- 
stroyed, your  feasts  abolished,  your  name  blasphemed, 
your  worship  proscribed.  To  the  holy  canticles  which 
resounded  through  the  sacred  arches  shall  succeed 
ribald  and  infamous  chants. 

"  And  thou  !  obscene  divinity  of  Paganism,  thou 
comest  to  usurp  the  place  of  the  Eternal  God,  to  seat 
thyself  on  the  throne  of  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  re- 
ceive the  perjured  incense  of  thy  blind  adorers." 

Was  it  possible  to  announce  more  clearly  than  this, 
eighteen  years  in  advance,  the  advent  of  the  goddess  of 
Reason,  adored  under  the  likeness  of  a  Pompadour 
of  the  rabble,  to  foretell  the  hour  when  the  blood  of 
the  members  of  Parliament,  flowing  in  torrents,  should 
expiate,  if  possible,  the  support  they  had  lent  to  the 
enemies  of  the  altar  and  the  throne  ? 

Non  prcBvalebuni.  Impiety  has  worked  well ;  the 
Jesuits  are  not  immortal ;  but  they  have  not  died. 
They  have  a  promise  of  eternal  martyrdom  which  is 
equivalent  to  immortality  ;  for  it  is  necessary  to  live 
in  order  to  sufier. 

Revive  the  Ministry  of  a  Choiseul  or  a  Pombal,  or 
even  place  the  reins  of  power  in  the  hands  of  the  sav- 
age offspring  of  those  sons  of  nothingness,  who  by  a 
mysterious  reversal  of  the  doctrines  of  Darwin,  come 


270 


The  Jesuits, 


to  beget  apes ;  they  will  lead  the  Jesaits  to  execution. 

Some  miserable  street  Arab  of  Paris,  marching  behind 
Father  Olivaint,  who  advances  joyfully  to  heaven,  will 
thrust  his  bayonet  into  the  heel  of  his  prisoner,  sur- 
rounded by  twenty  guns,  whose  owners  dare  not  fire, 
until  in  a  deserted  and  wretched  street  they  find  cour- 
age to  assassinate  their  victim. 

This  is  well ;  this  is  what  takes  place  :  OHvaint 
passes  into  eternal  life. 

Does  this  remind  you  of  death  ? 

The  murderers  themselves,  perhaps,  live  to  the  hour 
so  ardently  prayed  for  by  their  victim  ;  for  he  does 
pray  for  them,  and  especially  for  the  poor  unfortunate  ; 
who,  in  his  blind  hatred,  tears  the  flesh  of  his  heel  on 
the  way  to  Calvary  ;  recommending  him  with  an  irre- 
sistible gesture  to  the  pity  of  our  Saviour. 

In  these  seeming  deaths  are  unheard-of  treasures  of 
life,  not  only  for  the  Jesuits,  to  whom  life  is  nothing, 
but  for  France  and  for  the  world. 

So  that  after  the  sacrifice  is  consummated,  the  wound- 
ed country  recovers  and  walks  in  the  way  bordered  by 
abysses,  as  if  a  miraculous  balance  had  been  estab- 
lished between  the  deadly  influences  of  crime  and  the 
vivifying  merit  of  the  martyrs.  Devoted  to  preaching 
and  instruction,  thus  they  live. 

"  You  have  a  degree,"  said  a  skeptical  friend  of 
mine  to  his  son,  reluctantly  confided  to  the  Jesuits, 


A  Last  Word. 


271 


upon  the  earnest  entreaty  of  his  Christian  mother, 
"  but  what  have  they  taught  you  ?  " 

The  youth  remembered  having  formerly  often 
shocked  this  excellent  parent  by  a  precocious  spirit  of 
revolt.  "They  have  taught  me,"  he  answered,  "to 
respect  and  love  you."  My  worthy  confrere  in  literary 
pursuits  has  not  exactly  become  a  partisan  of  the 
Jesuits,  but  at  the  time  he  related  to  me  the  foregoing 
anecdote,  his  eyes  were  full  of  tears.  And  his  second 
son  has  been  confided  willingly  to  those  masters  who, 
without  neglecting  knowledge,  teach  also  respect  and 
love. 

I  have  not  added  virtue,  for  it  is  a  word  which  has 
now  only  a  comic  meaning,  exciting  foolish  laughter ; 
besides,  it  is  a  fact  patent  to  the  world  that  all  the  pu- 
pils of  the  Jesuits  are  not  by  any  means  saints. 

Voltaire  was  their  pupil,  and  lived  in  days  which 
were  very  evil,  but  when  it  was  at  least  permitted  to 
pronounce  the  word  "  virtue "  without  exciting  the 
risibiUty  of  men.  We  have  progressed  since  then, 
however,  and  if  I  dare  make  use  of  the  word,  while 
asking  pardon  for  the  liberty,  it  is  because  I  take  the 
word  in  Voltaire  which  he  lets  fall  at  every  turn,  when 
there  is  question  of  his  former  masters ;  although  im- 
planting a  sting,  he  assumes  a  most  reverential  attitude. 

The  least  of  the  faults  of  the  posterity  of  Voltaire 
is  never  to  have  read  Voltaire,  nor  Rousseau,  nor  any 
noxious  writings,  save  those  of  the  "Almanachs." 


2J2 


The  Jesuits. 


I  grant  that  Voltaire  and  Rousseau  brought  about 
the  Revohition  ;  but  even  so,  the  Revolution  made 
them  celebrated,  and  in  this,  both  parties  were  the 
victims  of  a  mutual  mistake,  for  the  Revolution  no 
more  knew  what  it  was  doing  in  adoring  Rousseau 
and  Voltaire,  than  either  of  these  knew  what  they  did 
in  preparing  the  Revolution. 

Voltaire  was  a  thorough  aristocrat,  not  to  speak  of 
his  being  a  courtier  ;  and  Rousseau  proclaimed  himself 
the  most  eloquent  adversary  of  democracy  in  the 
"  great  countries."  All  the  more  would  he  tolerate 
the  democratic  Republic  of  Monaco. 

To  return  to  the  Jesuits.  Whilst  the  posterity  of 
Voltaire  and  of  Rousseau  vomit  forth  against  them  in 
invectives  the  French  of  the  tavern,  Voltaire  employs 
his  admirable  French  in  deploring  their  suppression  (to 
which,  however,  his  admirable  French  had  helped  not 
a  little),  and  Rousseau,  in  still  more  magnificent 
language,  peremptorily  refuses  to  lend  his  support  to  the 
odious  plots  which  united  the  bigots  of  Jansenism  and 
the  fimatics  of  Atheism  against  the  sold  ers  of  the  true 
God,  whom  he  respected  without  loving. 

But  these  things  have  been  written  one  hundred 
times,  and  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  re-write  them. 
The  tavern  reads  only  the  daily  Almanachs,  which  serve 
up  its  repast  of  Jesuit  (he  whom  Pombal  carried  horse- 
back on  his  nose),  chopped  up,  and  highly  seasoned,  in 


A  Last  Word. 


273 


paragraphs,  which  would  have  made  Voltaire  or  Rous- 
seau fly  to  the  Antipodes.  Such,  and  such  alone,  satis- 
fies the  taste  of  the  tavern. 

It  is  certainly  a  profound  misfortune  that  the 
abasement  of  a  whole  people  should  be  accomplished 
by  two  or  three  thousand  political  mercadets,  who  do 
not  merit  even  the  name  of  Tribunes. 

It  may  be  said  that  they  possess  only  one  sense — the 
instinct  of  priest-hunting.  The  priest — or,  as  they  say, 
the  Jesuit — is  to  them  the  last  barrier  which  opposes 
the  final  deluge  of  the  "  Almanachs."  They  believe 
that  were  the  Jesuit  dead,  the  deluge  would  naturally 
overwhelm  the  army,  the  Government,  all  property, 
capital,  the  arts,  and  literature,  and  the  Almanach 
should  become  the  sole  government. 

It  is  apparent  that  they  are,  perhaps,  right,  as  far  as 
concerns  a  brief  period  at  least.  The  trials  of  this  age, 
which  had  so  bloody  an  inauguration,  are  not  yet  ter- 
minated ;  there  will  be  other  martyrs.  I  say  this  age, 
because  it  is  not  centuries  which  divide  the  periods  of 
the  world,  but  rather  the  grouping  of  facts.  The  present 
cycle,  made  up  of  so  much  grandeur  and  so  much 
ignominy,  has  lasted  eighty-four  years.  As  an  age,  we 
were  born  in  '"93,"  and  we  are  dying  of  the  politics  of 
the  Almanachs,  as  our  fathers  expired  of  the  philosophy 
of  the  "  Dictionaries." 

Philosophy,  that  fluxion  of  intelligence,  addressed 
itself  to  the  masses  by  intelligent  error. 
18 


274 


The  Jesuits. 


The  policy  of  the  Ahiianachs,"  paralyzed  at  heart 
and  overloaded  with  egotism,  eager  to  enjoy  its  power, 
brews  for  its  numerous  patrons  an  unknown  beverage, 
an  amalgamation  of  covetousness  and  hate,  of  passion 
and  of  promises  which  it  has  not  had  even  the  in- 
genuity to  invent ;  for  they  are  a  revival  of  the  cheat- 
ing formulas  in  vogue  among  the  demoniacs  of  the 
sixLCcnth  ceotmy,  at  the  beginning  of  the  disease  with 
which  the  world  was  inoculated  by  Luther. 

The  casks  of  this  beverage,  of  Protestantism  were 
already  broached  throughout  Germany,  Switzerland, 
England,  and  other  places,  at  the  time  when  Ignatius 
and  his  companions  registered  the  Vow-of  Montmartre, 
It  was  against  the  Revohition,  whose  germ  was  divined 
in  the  lees  of  this  beverage,  that  the  pact  was  entered 
into.  The  Revolution,  bursting  forth  in  the  fullness 
^  of  time,  instinctively  hated  these  adversaries  who  had 
arrested  its  first  movement  and  held  it  in  check  for 
hundreds  of  years,  and  whom  it  one  day  crushed,  to  its 
own  surprise,  Avith  the  unlooked-for  aid  of  kings,  nobles, 
and  magistrates ;  whom  it  saw  die — and  whom  it  finds 
arisen — living  in  the  face  of  its  victory. 

Thus  the  daily  Almanachs,  less  polished  than  philos- 
ophy, and  disdaining  all  metaphor,  no  longer  cry,  "  Let 
us  crush  '  L'Infame,'"*  but  shriek  with  one  accord, 
"  Down  with  the  Jesuits  ! " 

Only  it  is  so  evidently  and  so  entirely  the  same 

*  *' L'Infame."  It  was  under  this  title  that  Voltaire  and 
his  followers  always  spoke  of  the  Church. 


A  Last  Word, 


275 


thing,  that  the  class  of  indifferentists  are  involuntarily 
obliged  to  reflect. 

Even  as  "L'Infame"  comprehended^  in  point  of 
fact,  the  throne,  and  all  which  appertained  to  the 
throne,  so  by  the  Jesuit  of  the  Almanachs  is  understood 
first  of  all  the  Church,  and  then  all  which  exists  by 
the  aid  of  the  Church,  although  holding  no  allegiance 
to  the  Church,  neither  honoring  her  nor  loving  her — it 
may,  even  to  a  certain  point,  be  hostile  toward  her ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  administration,  all  administrations ; 
the  government,  all  governments ;  the  academies, 
individual  property,  and  even  philosophy  ;  all,  in  short, 
which  is  not  the  "  Almanach,"  nor  the  tavern  ;  all  ex- 
cept the  void  made  by  greedy  and  blind  demolition. 
All  the  world  sees  this,  even  the  most  short-sighted. 

This  is  assisted  by  an  effort  still  far  from  effectual,  but 
fairly  in  earnest. 

A  movement  has  been  begun  which  was  delayed 
until  the  last  moment,  and  then  only  aroused  by  a 
sight  of  the  yawning  precipice. 

The  men  who  style  themselves  the  "  Conservatives," 
not  because  they  defend  in  common  some  well-defined 
principles,  but  because  they  have,  in  short,  something 
material  to  preserve — as  the  traveler  uses  every  pre- 
caution to  prevent  his  purse  being  stolen  out  of  his 
pocket — these  men,  having  watched  attentively,  have 
seen  gathering  in  their  midst  this  disturbance  of  the 
class  who  have  nothing  to  preserve,  but  who  will  take 


276 


The  Jesuits, 


all ;  and  even  as  the  latter  unite  their  forces  for  the 
purposes  of  ravage,  the  first  seem  vaguely  inclined  to 
band  together  for  mutual  protection.  It  is  astonishing 
that  they  should  have  opened  their  eyes  so  late.  For 
it  is  late. 

And  time  presses. 

And  perhaps  the  mutual  fear  which  binds  these  new 
confederates  together  is  not  a  chain  of  great  strength. 
Their  interests,  which  are  widely  different,  must  con- 
flict, and  some  must  be  crushed  and  thrown  to  one 
side,  along  the  road  which  they  are  pursuing.  Not 
starting  from  the  same  point,  they  do  not  journey  to- 
ward the  same  end  ;  while  their  enemies  are  united  in 
a  terrible  similarity  of  purpose,  second  only  in  strength 
to  the  Unity  of  Good,  of  which  it  is  the  opposite  and 
the  negation,  since  they  are  bound  together  by  Evil. 

That  is  a  principle,  negative,  it  is  true,  but  absolute. 

God  grant  that  the  tardily  formed  and  frail  League  of 
the  Conservatives  may  find  some  absolute  principle  on 
which  to  rest !  The  effort  is  good  in  itself ;  it  has  al- 
ready produced  in  France  the  result  of  clearly  drawing 
the  line  of  demarkation  between  those  whose  interest  it 
is  to  demolish  and  those  who  wish  to  preserve,  so  that  for 
the  time  there  are  but  two  parties  in  France — those  who 
wish  to  destroy,  and  those  who  wish  to  avert  destruction. 

Is  that  sufficient ?  To  my  mind,  no;  these  coali- 
tions of  interests  are  of  short  duration,  resembling 
houses  of  which  the  stones  are  held  together  by  no 


/ 


A  Last  Word. 


cement.  The  several  interests  become  displaced,  jos- 
tling against  one  another,  and  thus  each  becoming  ob- 
structive to  the  rest.  Ah  !  how  long  has  the  cry  been 
heard  !  Again  and  again  it  is  repeated,  "  We  seek  to 
unite  respectable  interests  upon  a  common  soil,"  and 
by  it  numerous  apprehensions  are  always  roused ;  but 
few  hopeful  expectations. 

This  phrase,  "respectable  interests,"  has  already 
been  in  vogue  some  time,  and  I  do  not  criticise  it ; 
but  I  would  ask,  What  epithet  will  henceforth  charac- 
terize the  disinterested?  Shall  they  become  con- 
temptible ? 

And  this  is  not  so  idle  a  question  as  it  appears.  I 
am  not  what  may  be  called  a  practical  man,  but  I 
have  studied  pretty  attentively  the  history  of  my  own 
time,  and  also  that  of  the  past.  I  have  seen  that 
the  disinterested  alone  have  proved  useful  to  their 
country  and  themselves,  whilst  all  interests,  were  they 
"  respectable,"  met  their  own  ruin  in  that  of  their 
country. 

Carthage  was  encumbered  with  respectable  interests, 
whilst  Rome  was  inhabited  by  the  disinterested. 

But  this  does  not  signify.  We  were  treating  only 
of  the  question  of  finding  a  common  soil.  In  oppos- 
ing disinterestedness  to  interest,  I  had  no  other  end 
than  to  facilitate  the  solution  of  the  problem  which 
seems  to  contain  for  our  epoch  a  question  of  life  and 
death. 


278  The  Jesuits. 


There  is  no  common  soil  capable  of  containing  in- 
terests. Large  as  are  the  deserts  of  Africa,  I  defy  you 
to  place  there  two  respectable  interests  which  would 
not  conflict. 

On  the  contrary,  all  soils  are  alike  common  to  the 
disinterested. 

I  do  not  go  to  the  length  of  urging  the  interested  to 
turn  and  walk  in  the  way  of  self-abnegation,  but  I 
merely  suggest  to  them  with  all  the  veneration  which 
is  their  due,  "  If  you  wish  a  rallying  point  —  and  it  is 
certain  that  you  do,  for  in  your  disunion  lies  your  weak 
point — do  not  seek  the  center  where  it  is  not.  Be  as 
little  interested  as  you  can,  and  as  much  disinterested 
as  it  is  possible  for  you  to  be. 

"  In  order  to  distance  one  another  in  your  competi- 
tions, you  have  the  habit  of  conceding  much  to  your 
common  enemies  ;  concede  to  them  no  longer,  and 
mutually  increase  the  measure  of  concessions  to  what 
appear  to  you  the  wise  and  good. 

"  These  sacrifices  in  time  of  war  are  called  discipline ; 
no  army  exists  without  discipline,  and  you  are  an 
army  ;  wherefore  should  you  dispense  with  sacrifice  ? 

"  Who  knows  if  you  have  more  than  one  battle  to 
fight  ?  In  order  to  gain  it,  employ  discipline.  Your 
egotism  is  your  weakness.  Be  disinterested  in  your 
own  interest. 

"And  seek  attentively,  find  a  chain  which  will  mut- 
ually bind  you  ;  seek  for  some  cohesive  force.    It  has 


A  Last  Word, 


a  name,  the  greatest  of  all  names,  this  rallying  point, 
where  the  disinterested  start  from  this  vast  center, 
where  have  been  gained  so  many  unhoped-for  victories, 
but  among  us  there  are  a  large  number  of  worthy 
hearts  who  have  forgotten  it.  The  Conservative  army 
is  almost  as  indifferent  to  this  name  as  is  that  of  the 
.-avagers, 

"  It  is  useful,  however — and  more  than  useful,  it  is 
necessary,  it  is  essential — that  this  name  should  be 
heard  above  the  combat  ;  for,  since  Constantine  and 
Clovis,  it  has  lost  none  of  its  all-powerful  magic.  Your 
rallying  point  is  the  Faith  ;  your  standard — the  only- 
standard  beneath  which  millions  of  opposed  wills,  di- 
verse passions,  and  contrary  hopes  can  march  cheer- 
fully and  without  collision  in  reconciliation  and  peace — 
is  the  Cross.  By  this  sign  you  shall  conquer.  With- 
out it  you  shall  be  vanquished.  Your  enemies  have 
everything  on  their  side,  save  God.  By  what  insanity 
do  you  not  oppose  God  to  your  enemies  ?  .  .  .  . 

"  And  retain  all  your  army  ;  abandon  none,  not  even 
the  Jesuits,  in  the  hour  which  precedes  the  conflict. 
Never,  in  return  for  the  gifts  that  he  presents  to  you 
with  his  hand  'full  of  riches,'*  never  sacrifice  to  the 
caress  of  the  pagan  '  Tartufe'  the  men  of  Catholic  edu- 
cation.   Remember  the  exulting  cries  of  the  '  Encyclo- 


*  "  In  quortitn  manibus  inqnUates  sunt.  Dertera  eorum  ie- 
pleta  est  7nuneri}nis  


28o 


The  Jesuits. 


pedie,'  at  the  time  when  the  perverse  counselors  of 
Louis  XV.,  by  mowing  down  the  Jesuits,  killed  at  the 
root  the  young  harvest  of  the  future,  and  destroyed  the 
Dalance  maintained  in  France  by  education  ! " 

I  do  not  depreciate  the  glory  of  the  University,  but 
I  say :  "  Alongside  of  the  palace  which  doubts,  must 
be  the  house  which  believes." 

It  is  a  necessity  of  conscience. 

"  They  ceased  to  educate  only  when  they  ceased  to 
exist.  The  Society  of  Jesus  is  among  us,  the  great 
half  of  Christian  education.  As  far  as  the  Order  it- 
self is  concerned,  I  again  repeat  that  it  needs  neither 
you  nor  me ;  it  is  I,  it  is  you  who  need  it,  for  our 
children,  for  the  France  of  the  future. 

"  Fathers  of  famihes,  render  to  Casar  that  which 
belongs  to  Caesar,  faithfully,  full)^,  but  render  to  God 
that  which  belongs  to  God.  In  these  unhappy  days, 
it  happens  often,  as  you  know,  and  have  seen,  that 
the  pagan Tartufe governs ;  render  him  all;  it  is  !he  law; 
but  guard  your  conscience,  your  faith,  and  the  educa- 
tion of  your  children. 

"That  is  your  own^  because  it  is  God's.  Whether 
the  Atheist  *  Tartufe '  smile,  caress,  or  menace,  be 
strong  in  the  right ;  in  your  hands  is  placed  the  trust 
of  a  family  and  of  a  country. 

"  Frenchmen,  defend  France  ;  fathers,  protect  your 
children." 

I  have  finished,  and  this  little  preparative  work  is 


A  Last  Word. 


281 


far  from  what  I  would  wish,  though  it  contains  in 
germ  all  the  ideas  that  I  will  later  enlarge  upon.  It 
outlines  the  splendid  birth  of  a  mighty  work  opposed 
to  the  sinister  origin  of  a  great  disaster. 

It  indicates  the  way  followed  through  an  obedience 
which  has  never  wavered  ;  it  shows  the  heroic  prayer 
of  Loyola  answered  by  the  miracle  of  an  unremitting 
a.nd  ceaseless  persecution  ;  it  shows  how  the  sentinel 
Dody,  furnished  by  the  vow  of  Montmatre,  has  kept 
guard  on  the  road  of  the  Revolution,  and  that  only  on 
the  day  when  it  fell,  stabbed  at  its  post  by  those  whom 
it  guarded  ;  the  Revolution  could  usurp  the  office  of 
education,  and  so  effect  an  entrance. 

The  Order  said  to  these  honest  people,  alike  to  the 
indifferent  and  to  the  timorous,  "  Be  brave,  be  vigi- 
lant, when  the  subject  of  education  is  in  question,  be 
cause  education  is  the  breach  through  which  your  ruin 
always  enters."  It  says  to  them  still,  "  The  people, 
the  castes,  the  parties,  who  for  their  own  preservation 
resign  the  sovereign  right  of  choosing  the  teachers  of 
their  children,  perish  more  quickly  and  die  dishon- 
ored." 

This  little  book  is  not  even  an  abridged  history  of 
the  Society  ;  it  is  rather  a  page  snatched  from  the  list 
of  crimes  which  go  to  make  up  the  history  of  the  ene- 
mies of  the  Company.  In  truth,  we  have  endeavored 
to  slightly  sketch  the  learned  persecutors,  defended  by 


282 


The  Jesuits. 


the  "  Dictionaries,"  on  the  same  ground  as  Julian 
the  Apostate,  their  especial  favorite.  We  have  en- 
deavored to  draw  some  likeness  from  nature,  of 
tyrants  devoted  to  their  especial  work,  ])ausing  at  no 
falsehood,  even  the  grossest  that  could  be  imagined, 
stopping  at  no  crime,  before  no  fraud,  and  flinging 
their  mantle  of  infamy  on  the  shoulders  of  the  cruci- 
fied, and  crying  Ecce  Homo  !   Behold  "  L'Infame  !  " 

This  is  what  a  modern  writer  has  termed  the  "  re- 
verse maneuver,"  and  which  he  characterizes  thus  : 
Tartufe-Judas  encounters  Jesus  in  a  lonely  place, 
kills  Him,  despoils  Him,  and  nails  on  His  chest  his 
own  name,  "  Judas." 

The  trick  is  done,  and  behold  the  "  Dictionaries," 
edified  forevermore. 

We  have  all  been  more  or  less  deluded  by  the  jug- 
glings  of  Judas  or  Tartufe,  we  have  all  more  or  less 
trampled  underfoot  the  twice  assassinated  body  of  Jus- 
tice, transformed  into  a  malefactor  by  the  industry  of 
Caiaphas,  of  Herod,  of  Pombal,  or  of  Choiseul,  become 
the  editors  of  our  daily  journals. 

And  as  the  youth  of  the  crowd  is  incurable,  not- 
withstanding all  evidence  to  the  contrary,  the  name  of 
him  who  has  committed  the  crime  is  ever  exalted  by 
the  crowd,  whilst  the  daily  blows  are  aimed  against 
religion,  right,  authority,  liberty,  truth,  honor,  charity, 
even  glory,  in  striking  the  victim  "  Iv'Infame  !  " 

This  little  book  will  not  change  all  that,    Happy  if 


A  Last  Word. 


283 


it  be  able,  not  to  teach,  but  to  recall  to  mind,  all  the 
grand  things  injured  by  the  daily  blows,  and  to  those 
who  still  cherish  these  great  things,  that  there  is  no 
more  time  to  remain  passive,  nor  to  yield  ;  that  the 
last  possible  concession  is  made  to  Judas,  and  that 
amongst  the  barriers  which  intervene  between  the 
y^oung  generation  and  barbarism,  the  highest,  the  most 
firm,  and  that  which  must  be  sustained  even  by  those 
who  love  it  not,  is  the  wall  of  the  House  of  Jesus. 


OR, 

LEAYES  FROM  MY  EXPERIENaS. 

BY 

O.  A.  BROWIIS©!^,  LL.O.  ■ 

A  new  revised  edition,  edited  by  bis  son.  Henry  F.  Brownson. 
vol.  12 mo,  clotb  extra,  witb  portrait,  $2  00. 

It  is  full  of  interest  as  it  is,  containing  mucb  useful  information  re- 
speciingllie  various  sects,  scbools,  and  parties  witb  wbicb  tbe  Con- 
vert at  different  times  came  in  contact,  with  skctrbes  of  their  several 
founders  and  cbiefs.  Passing  through  tbe  experiences  of  Presbyteri- 
anism  to  bccomo  a  Universalist,  and  a  World  Reformer  and  Humani- 
tarian, at  last,  after  many  vicissitudes,  tbe  earnest,  single-hearted  en- 
quirer obtained  the  blissful  glimpse  of  tbe  one  truth.  Like  many 
anotber  similarly  favored,  be  could  exclaim: 

"Darkness  and  doubt  are  now  tl^'ing  avray, 
No  longer  I  roam  in  conjecturj  lorlorn — 
So  breaks  on  tbe  traveller,  faint  and  astray, 
Tbe  bright  and  the  balmy  effulgence  of  morn.- 

— Lo}idoii  Catholic  Btgister. 

We  need  not  introduce  tbis  book  to  our  readers.  We  are 
glad  to  see  anotber  edition  called  for.  Tbe  experiences  of  sucb 
a  mind  as  Brownson  arc  of  vital  interest.  "  I  bave  not  addressed 
my  work,"  s::ys  tbe  author,  "especially  to  Catholics  or  noii-Catbolics, 
but  to  the  public  at  large.  My  purpose  has  been  to  render  (o  all  who 
may  take  an  interest  in  tbe  matter  an  account  of  my  conversion  to 
Catbolicity,  and  to  enable  tbe  curious  in  sucb  matters  to  discover  the 
connecting  link  between  mv  past  and  my  present  life,  in  order  to  en- 
able tbem  to  discover  tbe  connecting  link  between  nature  and  grace, | 
tbe  natural  and  ibe  supernatural,  and  to  perceive  that,  in  becoming  aj 
Catholic,  a  man  has  no  occasion  to  divest  bimself  of  bis  nature,  or  to 
forego  tbe  exercise  of  bis  reason.  ...  I  bave  aimed  to  write  an  in- 
structive, not  an  amusing  book." — Pilot. 

Sent  by  mail,  postage  paid,  to  any  address  upon  receipt  of  tlie 
price.  Address 

D.  &  J.  SADLIER  &  CO., 

31  BARCLAY  STREET,  NEW  YORK. 


TM  ADVENTURES  OF  A  PROTESTAN'l 
IN  SEARCH  OF  A  RELIGION. 


By  IOTA.. 


One  Vol.  IGnio.    Cloth,  bereled  boards,  ornamental  gilt  sides  $1.50 

 Clotli,  silt   2.00 


"  No  two  men  seem  to  be  led  to  the  truth  by  the  f5nrae  road,  and  henoe 
it  comes  to  pnss  that  every  conversion  is  a  study  by  itself,  and  a  special 
revelation  of  God's  dealing  with  souls.  It  is  this  fact  which  lends  an  ia^ter- 
est  to  tills  historv  of  a  Protestant's  adventures  in  search  of  a  religion 
beyond  tlint  whicli  it  would  possess  as  a  mere  story.  It  is  a  Ckarrative  of 
the  trialg  and  searchings,  the  lights  and  darknesses,  of  one  who,  led  by 
invisible  grace,  gropes  his  way  from  the  furthest  outpost  of  error,  as  man- 
ifested by  extreme  Calvinism,  up  to  the  very  citadel  of  eternal  truth.  It 
is  a  long  and  painful  journey,  and  the  writer  has  succeeded  well  in  the 
design  he  had  in  view  when  he  essayed  to  give  us  an  account  of  his  hero's 
Bteps  through  the  maze,.    .    .  . 

"Taking  it  as  a  whole,  we  have  liked  the  work  exceedingly.  It  is  well 
written,  and  the  interest  of  the  story  well  kept  up.  It  will  form  a  valua- 
ble addition  to  every  Catliolic  library,  and  be  read  with  interest  by  both 
Catholics  and  non-Catholics.  Nor  should  we  be  surprised  to  hear  that 
through  its  perusal  many  another  Protestant  will  have  been  helped  in  his 
search  after  a  religion." — Loridon  Tablet. 

'*  This,  as  its  title  imports,  is  a  controversial  tale  ;  but  it  is  also  what 
its  name  does  not  import,  a  story  of  more  than  ordinary  merit  of  its  kind, 
both  in  beauty  of  sentiment  and  grace  of  composition.  It  has  none  of  the 
childish  wishy-ioasldness  which  too  often  characterizes  doctrinal  tales.  The 
author,  in  a  truly  beautiful  and  instructive  preface,  explains  the  scope  of 
the  work  as  follows  :  *We  attempt  in  these  pages  to  exhibit  some  of  the 
workings  of  a  mind  that  may  be  taken  as  the  type  of  a  large  class  of  young, 
thoughtful,  studious  men  of  the  day,  who  having  had  instilled  into  their 
minds  the  divine  right  of  private  judgment,  as  the  phrase  is,  have  deter- 
mined to  shape  out  their  own  course  of  thought,  cast  off  the  prejudices  of 
their  education,  and  adopt  as  their  motto  for  life,  "Every  man  his  own 
creed-maker."  '  Of  course,  the  author  is  himself  a  convert,  and  therefore 
abundantly  able  to  compose  such  a  work  in  even  a  far  more  satisfactory 
manner  than  one  to  the  manner  born,  and  therefore  happily  ignorant  of 
that  unbligsful  gift,  a  mind  working  with  religious  fermentation. — Catholic 
Record. 

"  The  book  he  has  given  us  is  the  well-told  tale  of  the  trials,  the  strug 
gles,  the  difficulties  through  which  one  particular  mind  made  its  way  from 
the  darkness  of  doubt  and  uncertainty  in  Protestant  negation  into  the 
regions  of  eternal  truth  and  assured  trust  in  the  full  light  of  Catholic  faith 
and  Catholic  dogma.  It  is  told  as  a  story,  and  is  indeed  more  deeply  in- 
teresting than  any  mere  story,  yet  it  has  in  it  no  factitious  aids  from  fiction, 
no  meretricious  adornment  of  any  kind.'' — New  York  Tablet. 


The  above  book  will  be  sent  hy  inail,  postage  pre-paid,  upon 
receipt  of  the  advertised  price,  by  the  publishers,  to  any  address  in  iJi6 
United  States, 

D.  k  J.  SADLIER  &  €0.,  31  Barclay  St.»  N.  T. 


Catholicity  and  Pantheism: 

ATT.  TRUTH  OR  NO  TRUTH. 

BY  REV.   J.    DE  CONCILIO. 
J  Vol.     i2ino.    Cloth,  extra  |2.oo 


A  FORMAL  introduction  of  this  work  is,  no  douht,  superfluous,  in  face  of 
the  high  reputation  as  a  theologian  enjoyed  by  the  author,  the  Rev.  J. 
De  Concilio.  Suflice  it  to  say  that,  in  "  Catholicity  and  Pantheism/' 
lie  has  done  all  that  could  have  been  expected,  and  that  is  much.  He 
has  presented  an  old  subject  in  a  new  light ;  he  has  handled  the  grand 
old  arguments  of  the  Catholic  Church  with  novel  dexterity,  and  he  has 
massed  his  forces  on  the  whole  army  of  heresies  and  false  systems  of 
philosophy  with  wonderful  tact.  Tearing  aside  the  flimsy  trappings  of 
Protestantism,  and  laying  bare  the  ambitious  forms  of  modern  philoso- 
ph>,  he  holds  up  to  our  gaze  the  naked  figure  of  Pantheism  ; — Panthe- 
ism, that  under  one  guise  or  another,  has  ever  been  the  absorbing  error 
of  mankind ;  Pantheism  that  has  ever  been  the  insidious  foe  of  CathO" 
licity  in  all  nations  and  in  all  times  ;  hence,  the  watchword  that  sounds 
through  the  pages  of  this  book,  "  Catholicity  or  Pantheism  ;  all  truth  or 
no  truth ;  life  or  death." 


**This  monstrous  evil,  Pantheism,  being  the  natural  enemy  of  Catholic 
truth,  our  author  has  attempted  to  refute  it,  by  showing  the  internal 
beauty  of  Catholicity,  a  form  of  controversy  and  a  means  of  carrying 
conviction  which  he  believes  to  be  peculiarily  adapted  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  day.  His  work  is  profound  and  trustworthy." — PJiiladelphia 
Vatholic  Record. 

D.  &  J.  SADLIER  &  CO., 

ji  Barclay  Street,  N.  F. 
Sail  by  Mail,  postage  paid,  to  any  address,  on  receipt  of  the priot. 


CHARACTERISTICS 

FROM  THE  WRITINGS  OF 

JOHN  HENRY  NEWMAN, 

BEING 

Selections,  Personal,  Historical,  Philosophical,  and 
Religious,  from  his  various  Works. 

ARRANGED  BY 

WILLIAM   SAMUEL  LILLY, 

Of  the  Inner  Temple,  Barrister-at-Law, 

WITH  THE  author's  APPROVAL. 


1  Vol.    12mo.    Cloth,  extra. 
"  "        Half  morocco 

Extract  from  the  Preface. 

"In  the  following  pages  I  have  endeavored  to  give  an  account  through 
extracti  from  his  books  of  his  present  views  on  the  chief  matters  of 
general  interest  on  which  he  has  written  from  time  to  time.  I  have 
Bought  especially  to  present  his  mind  on  the  great  religioTis  questions 
which  have  so  largely  exercised  the  intellect  of  this  age,  and  which,  even 
in  the  judgment  of  those  who  are  unable  to  accept  his  conclusions,  he  has 
faced,  investigated,  and  determined  for  himself  with  an  unflinching 
courage,  and  an  unswerving  steadfastness  of  purpose,  almost  as  rare 
perhaps  as  the  high  mental  endowments  which  he  has  brought  to  the  task. 
*♦■'**  In  compiling  my  volume  I  have  primarily  endeavored 
to  consult  for  readers  who  from  want  of  leisure,  or  from  other  reasons, 
are  unable  to  procure  and  peruse  for  themselves  Dr.  Newman's  writings 
tX  large,  and  who  desire  to  possess  in  a  compendious  form  a  summary 
prepared  with  his  approval  of  his  ultimate  judgments  on  the  most  impor- 
tant matt'fs  of  which  he  has  written  during  the  last  half  century.'' 

D.  &  J.  SADLIER  &  CO., 

ji  Barclay  Street,  N.  V, 
Sent  by  Mail,  postage  piad,  to  any  address,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


$1.50 

2.50 


% 


f 


Date  Due 

 1 

3  9031  031  43419 


179920  " 

Feval,  Paul 

Author 

The  Jesuits 

Title 

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